Generation Next
by myboygeorge
Summary: A monumental event is about to take place in the Crumbsverse: the birth of the first grand-child in the Twelfth Precinct! Follow Alexis and Shane on their journey into parenthood with friends and family with them through every step.
1. Decisions

'Morning Doctor Weaver. Happy Hallowe'en.'

Alexis stretched her arms up over her head in bed and sighed as she saw her husband laying beside her in bed. She touched her hand to Shane's cheek. 'Happy Hallowe'en back, Doctor Weaver. You're still in bed at-' she checked the clock '-six am on Hallowe'en? That's gotta be a first.'

'Just wait, my sweet little strawberry, it'll get busy.'

'Speaking of getting busy...' Alexis rolled atop her man, grinned at him. Waking up wanting him was always a fun way to start the day. 'You feel like filling up our schedule this morning?'

'Absolutely.'

Shane grinned as he felt the morning wood become alert at the feel of his wife's body. His hands covered her breasts, scraping over her nipples already going taught from the chill of the October atmosphere that always seemed to creep in the window. His lips found her throat and he hummed as he kissed the smooth white column; her pulse was already picking up pace when he tried to roll them so she was underneath him. Her hands shoved his shoulders against the mountain of pillows he couldn't sleep without and she wiggled her hips against him.

'Naughty, naughty,' she murmured, 'I'm in charge today.'

'Yes ma'am,' he agreed on a chuckle; it died into a moan as he straightened out his legs so she would be able to bow backwards as she rode him when he was inside her. He was just about to slip his hand between their bodies to test her readiness when his phone rang. 'Oh, fuck me, you've got to be kidding!'

'I thought you were fucking me,' Alexis whispered in his ear, catching the lobe in her teeth as he answered. 'Tell them to go away, that you are very...very...busy...'

'Jesus.' Shane clenched his teeth and answered his phone as calmly as possible. 'This is Weaver.'

'Hey, Shane, it's Ryan, just checking to see if you're in this morning.

'Ah, yeah, ten to six. Short day since I'm in...court tomorrow.' He got the words out but just barely as Alexis had slid her own hand between them bodies, and rocked her hips forward so she sank down on top of him, holding very still just to torture him.

'Sweet. We caught a case and Lanie's here, and we'll need to get the Baldwin report from you at the morgue.'

'Listen, Ry, I've got a lot to do here before I'm in for shift and...and...'

'Oh hey, don't sweat it bro. We'll see you at the morgue this morning.'

'Great. Bye.'

Shane hung up, tossed his phone aside and glared teasingly at Alexis. 'You devious little witch, you did that on purpose.'

'Maybe.' Now Alexis rocked her hips back, the forward again. 'Does that help make up for it?'

'A lot.'

Alexis grinned as she set the pace for them, riding high on the crest of sensation as the orgasm winged through her. She felt her husband shudder with her, his heart thundering as she kept her hands on his chest as she slumped down to kiss his neck. 'Now it's a happy Hallowe'en.'

'Yeah, I'd say so too.'

'Who was on the phone?' Alexis asked as she got off him, went to go find towels for her morning shower.

'Ryan, who will probably figure it out with Espo's help we were having sex when he called,' Shane laughed. 'That poor bastard just can't catch a break. You want something for breakfast?'

'It's Thursday, remember babe? Breakfast burrito with Cam on the way to work.'

'How's that going, by the way?' Shane called after her as she went into the bathroom and he went to the closet to figure out what he would wear to the morgue.

'Hospital work is what it is,' she called back, 'but it's fun working with children too.'

'Speaking of children, are we still doing the kids portion of the Hallowe'en party tonight?'

Alexis stuck her head out the door. 'Scheine Asa Weaver, we are not backing out of that. Besides, you know you love them.'

'Yes, but it's one thing to help out with trick or treat round up, it's another to be the scary ghost story teller.'

'It's _The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,_ not _The Pit and the Pendulum_, honey,' she laughed as she scrubbed warm water over her skin before running the water for her shower. 'Besides think of it for practice when we have our own.'

'About that.'

Shane, having picked out his dress clothes for the day, then went into the bathroom still naked. He liked having these talks with Alexis when he was naked so that there would be no way to fidget with something and be distracted. 'You've been at the clinic over a year now, right?'

'Fourteen months last week. I'm taking my boards in February so I'll officially be a resident. Why?'

'That means you'll be able to take advantage of being maternity leave.'

'Yes it does. But I thought we agreed, Shane.' Alexis stuck her head around the shower curtain. 'Valentine's Day is when we start having sex with a purpose.'

'That's what I mean. You're certain you still want that to be our start date?'

'Yeah, I'm sure. Like I said, I'm writing my boards February tenth and eleventh, and that way if we do try for a baby and succeed it'll be after crunch time for me.'

'Right.'

'Shane?' Alexis stuck her head around the shower curtain again; this time her hair was full of shampoo. 'Are you having doubts about it? You want to hold off longer?'

'No, no, my strawberry, I'm just making sure that is still what you want. You've known my opinion since August, babe, I just don't want you to feel like I'm pressuring you.'

'Come here.'

Shane moved closer and Alexis pressed shower-dampened lips to his. 'It's our decision together, and I know you're ready to try for a baby sooner than I am, and that you are waiting because I'm almost ready makes me love you even more. I am ready,' she amended, 'but I want to do my boards first.'

'I would never ask you to jeopardize your career, Alexis.'

'Exactly. So we're agreed. Valentine's Day, we'll start trying for real. Now suit up, and make sure you eat, you'll need your strength today.'

'For what?' Shane asked, intrigued with her teasing tone.

'Practice, hubby of mine. Lots of practice.'


	2. News

Despite the now family-tone of Hallowe'en Night at the Castle loft one aspect had stayed the same though - the costume themes each year. There had been dead celebrities, cartoons, movie characters, childhood heroes, but this year the theme was comic books heroes and villains. Alexis was putting her red hair to her advantage and going as Poison Ivy while Shane had opted for The Riddler, and she couldn't help teasing him as they rode the elevator up.

'You look very sexy in tights, Shane,' she purred at him.

'So do you, Lex.'

Shane didn't bother letting his gaze go anywhere else but the subtle rise and fall of her breasts in the leaf-green sparkle-spangled merry-widow. He loved when she wore lingerie like that, the kind that would flatter her figure while making him pant like a dog for her. The idea that this time next year she might have that beautiful figure curved and changed from a baby they'd made made his hormone swim even harder.

'Shane? Up here, big guy.'

He lifted his gaze to her eyes and saw the twinkle there, the twinkle that told him he'd get to unwrap his Hallowe'en candy soon enough. 'No banging at this party, that would just be too weird.'

'Agreed. Besides, I don't think we'll have much time for it anyways.'

'Later?'

'Later.'

They stepped off the elevator, into the loft and into party-time. There were black and silver and orange streamers draped over every surface not moving, even the ends of the buffet table where an assortment of snacks and sweets had been set up. Bowls of neon green punch were stationed around the room and dance music pumped from an unseen source. Alexis looked around to see if she could find her parents, and wasn't surprised when she saw her father dressed as Captain Hammer talking to Dave dressed as Cyclops, her mother as Catwoman.

'Hey guys!' Alexis went over, wrapped her arms around the vinyl-clad Beckett. 'Where's RJ and Jojo?'

'Esposito and Ryan took them in the first round of trick-or-treating.'

'Have you seen Lindsay and Adam yet?'

'No, I thought they'd be here by now.'

'Huh, weird. Lindsay said she wasn't going to let anything stop her from being on time tonight.' Alexis shook her head. 'She probably got hung up at the hospital. Yet another reason I'm glad my rotation will soon be done at George Washington.'

'Get some punch, have a good night,' Beckett told them. 'Shane, I'll see you around nine for the kids' ghost story.'

'Right.'

Alexis waited until Beckett was out of earshot before looking at Shane. 'Be brave, take your medicine, Doctor,' she giggled.

'I like kids, I want to have kids, I'm just concerned your parents are trying to toss me to the wolves to prove some kind of point.'

'Well, brace yourself because here comes your brother- and sister-in-law.'

Shane turned and his anxiety about being Father Goose eased a little when he saw RJ and Jojo coming through the doors with their friends, treat sacs in hand. RJ had opted for Wolverine while Jojo was an adorable little Wonder-Woman lookalike with one very distinct difference.

'Alexis! Shane! You're here!' Jojo raced over, setting down her treat bag before throwing her arms around them both. 'Happy 'Allowe'en! You look so bee-you-tee-full! And Shane, so handsome!'

'Man, Jojo, they're just Shane and Alexis,' RJ laughed, as he bro-dapped knuckles with Shane and hugged Alexis. 'You see them all the time.'

'But they are wearin' cos'umes a'night just like us!'

'Who are you supposed to be, Jojo?' Shane asked, and Jojo did a twirl.

'I'm Wonder-Woman!' she replied triumphantly.

'But Wonder-Woman has black hair, bumblebee,' Alexis started to tell her, 'not red.'

'I know but...come'ere.'

Alexis bent close to her sister's head and Jojo told her quietly, 'I heard Shane say you are Wonder-Woman, and you my super-hero so I said I don't want black hair, I want hair like my big sis-uh-ter.'

'Oh, baby girl, you are too cute.' Alexis pressed a noisy kiss to her cheek, then popped up when she heard RJ say, 'Hey, Lindsay and Adam are finally here!'

Shane looked over and saw indeed they had arrived, still with the newlywed glow on. After just six weeks of marriage, though, one could hardly expect anything else. 'You wanna go say hi, guys?'

'In a minute, Shane,' RJ replied. 'They have to talk to their grown-up friends first, like you and Alexis.'

'They alla-ways make time fo' us,' Jojo reminded him, and took Alexis by the hand. ' 'Mon sis-uh-ter, less go say hi.'

Alexis let Jojo drag through the crowd of people, and as they approached she could see it was more than just the newlywed glow. Something else here that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

'Hello new wife! Hello new hubby!' It was Jojo's way of saying newlyweds, since the actual word was a little difficult for her almost four-year-old tongue. 'You guys are late, why you guys late tonight? You missin' the fun!'

'We wanted just a little time for ourselves before we came to see everyone else,' Adam replied, then sent Alexis a wink. 'You're married you know what I mean, Lex.'

'Adam,' Lindsay blushed, 'Jojo is right here!'

'Jojo, what do I mean when I say I want alone time for me and Lindsay?'

'Ummm, you wanna talk 'bout guh-rown up 'tuff an' no little ears 'round?' Jojo asked, then smiled when Adam gave her a high five.

'Exactly my darling.'

'Lindsay, you wanna go get some punch?'

'In a moment, Jojo.' Lindsay turned to Alexis, nerves dancing in her eyes. 'Where's Shane, we have some news to tell you.'

'Okay.' Before Alexis had moved more than a foot, she saw Shane had zipped over to join them. 'Is everything okay?'

'Yeah, yeah, just...you think we could tell you somewhere a little more private? We don't want to tell everyone the moment we walk in the door.'

'Sure, of course. Here, let's go.'

Just like being teenage girls again, Alexis took Lindsay by the wrist and led her into her father's study, away from the noise; Shane and Adam followed them in, and Shane closed the door. as Alexis whirled around to face her friends.

'Okay, what's going on?'

Lindsay and Adam joined hands, Adam wrapping his arms around Lindsay from behind. 'Tell them, my love.'

'I'm pregnant.'


	3. Change of Minds

Alexis and Shane both gasped as they digested the news. It was a shocker, no question since Lindsay and Adam had both said they'd wanted to be married for a year or so before they thought about a family. The universe had other plans in mind for them, it seemed.

'You're pregnant, Linds?' Alexis managed to squeak out.

'Yep, about six weeks into the deal too.' Lindsay rubbed her abdomen with her and her husband's joined hands. 'It was a surprise, no question. I just thought I'd picked up some weird European bug after being on that vineyard farm in Italy. Turns out it was a little extra-special wedding present Adam gave me.'

'Wedding present?'

'We did the math and figured out the baby was made when we consummated our marriage,' Adam added with a grin.

'Well that was awfully nice of you,' Shane laughed, pulling Adam in for a bear hug as Lindsay got a squealing embrace from Alexis. 'And it's good?'

The proud papa beamed like a son, glanced at Lindsay to see her smile. They'd had some rocky moments that afternoon when they'd first learned the news, but Adam ran a little errand while Lindsay was having a nap and had bought her a little gift to tell her that he would love her as a mother and a woman - he'd bought her a onsie with 'Boobies Rock' scrawled on it, and a pregnancy belly-bar so she could keep her newly-acquired body decoration. Lindsay had burst into happy tears, throwing her arms around him and holding him close; it had been in that moment that Adam and Lindsay both knew this curve-ball they'd been thrown would be more than okay, it would be wonderful.

'Yeah, it is. I know we had originally planned for doing this like a year from now, but I love my wife and all that loving was bound to have results. So it's unexpected but definitely not unhappy.'

'Listen to the big man talking,' Lindsay scoffed. 'You weren't so tough when we had the sonogram this afternoon. He fainted.'

Alexis blinked. She always put Adam in the tough-guy category with Esposito, and he was no fainter. 'You what?'

'I fainted. Not like a full on sack of potato collapse but definitely black out for about thirty seconds. I just couldn't believe that little blip on the screen was something we'd made together.'

'Congratulations you guys.' Alexis gave a happy little wiggle. 'Are you telling everyone tonight?'

'We don't know yet, but we had to tell you guys first,' Lindsay replied.

'If you want it to stay a secret, don't tell the kids, especially Jojo or Heddie or Max. They will announce it to the whole room.'

She laughed a little, then blew out a breath. 'Wow. Can't believe this time next year, we'll have our own little trick-or-treater.'

'We might too,' Shane replied, and now it was Lindsay and Adam's turn to be surprised.

'Really?'

'Really, really. We agreed we'd start trying once Alexis is finished her medical boards, put blowing off that steam to good use.'

'Nice,' Adam winked. 'Always fun to multitask.'

'Ah-cuse me.'

The group looked over to the doorway, saw little Heddie there with Leo, holding his hand; the toddler was dressed as a baby Robin from Batman while Leo was dressed as one of the villains from his mother's Lady Hawk series. 'Someone wanted to know where you had gone, Lindsay,' Leo told her. 'She was waiting for forever to say hello.'

'Oh, sure, sweetheart, come here.'

Lindsay crouched down and held out her arms to Heddie, who rushed over and threw her own around Lindsay's shoulder. 'There, that better?'

'Mush-o beddah.' Heddie leaned back, smiled. 'You so nice, Lissy, when you be a mama?'

Without thinking twice, Lindsay flicked a fingertip down Heddie's nose. 'Next summer, baby girl.'

'Lindsay!' Leo's eyes popped wide like springtime daisies. 'You're gonna have a baby? You've got a bumpy in there?'

'Well, it won't be bumpy around for a little bit yet.'

'Oh yea! We have to go tell everyone! Come on Adam!'

Alexis and Shane watched the youngster drag their friends into the main party space, holler for everyone's attention and announce that Lindsay and Adam were going to be a mama and a daddy. Everyone sent up a cheer, spent the evening teasing Adam on a very good honeymoon, and asking Lindsay how she was feeling. Both of them saw the mile-wide smiles full of nerves and excitement, sighing when they watched Lindsay with the little ones who flocked around her like she was a holy sainted mother. Happy as they were for their friends, both Weavers couldn't help thinking, is that what it'll be like when it's our turn?

By the time they arrived home and were stepping out of party clothes and into pyjamas, Alexis finally let herself sigh romantically.

'I'm so happy for them, Shane,' she murmured as his arms came around her in bed. 'They really deserve this happiness together.'

'I agree.'

'I hear a 'but' in there, Shane.'

'But I know you, Lex,' he told her, holding her tight. 'I know you're thinking you want that sooner now too, don't you?'

'Am I that transparent?'

'To me, yes. Alexis, we're both adults with good careers in a loving committed marriage. What's wrong with changing our minds?'

'I don't know, I...wait, you're okay with trying sooner too?' Alexis rolled to face him, eyes focusing on his. 'Like for real?'

'Yeah, I am. Family isn't something you can't put a clock on, Lex, and truthfully, I would love to be a dad as soon as I can,. I just didn't want you to feel like you are being pressured to give up everything you've worked so hard for.'

'What means giving up?' Baffled she smoothed her palm over his cheek. 'You're not asking me to or making me give anything up. Being pregnant doesn't mean I'll lose who I am and what I've worked for, it just means I'll add to my identity as a mother.'

'Alexis Harper, you're the best woman in the world.' Shane kissed her, then wiggled his eyebrows. 'So, when does this 'sooner' start to happen.'

'New Years. I know it's only two months sooner, but we can practice lots before then, so-'

She was cut off when she found her mouth captured by her husband's. 'Shane, what are you doing?'

'Like you said, it's all about practice. Lots of practice to get it right.'


	4. Quick Ones

'Hey Alexis, you don't mind, do you?'

'Mind what?'

Alexis looked up at her father from her cozy spot on the couch in the loft; she was reading the latest Beth Revis novel and had no desire to be disturbed from it. It was New Year's Eve, she was off work until the fifth of January as was Shane, there was a fire going to combat the whipping snow outside the loft and she just wanted a quiet afternoon before the gong-show of a party everyone knew would happen that night.

Castle looked at his daughter and put on his puppy-dog begging face. 'I have to go meet your mother at the precinct and then we need to go get supplies from the caterer's to set up before everyone gets here tonight so do you and Shane mind watchign RJ and Jojo?'

'Oh, no, not at all.' Alexis waved it off and went back to her book. 'It's naptime right now anyways. Jojo could sleep through a hurricane and RJ knows Mom will murder him if he tries to get up early.'

'Fair enough,' Castle laughed, then kissed the top of his daughter's head. It was still hard to think somedays his little girl was all grown up - a married woman with a medical career and her best friends having children. He felt a sick awareness of his own age suddenly, the idea that she and Shane could be parents within the year. 'Don't grow up too fast on me, okay,' he murmured to her and Alexis swatted him.

'Go get Mom,' she giggled.

Castle left, and Alexis enjoyed another few chapters out of her book before setting it aside and glancing at her watch. Her parents would be out for awhile and her siblings would still be snoozing; her husband was upstairs and in bed, all warm and half naked, and she had little desire to wait until later that night to get a jump-start on this baby-making thing.

She kicked off the blankets and went upstairs to find Shane exactly how she thought she would - her hubby was in just his boxers, clothes neatly draped over the arm of the chair by the bureau. Alexis shut the door, not bothering to lock it, and stripped off her own winter at-home wear so she was in her panties; she tucked herself in with her man, scooting close to let his body heat warm the sudden coolness to her skin.

Shane shifted in bed, lifted an eyelid in wariness then grinned when he saw it was his mostly-naked wife. 'Hello Doctor,' he murmured, kissing her sweetly. 'You seem to be missing a few essential items.'

'All my essentials are right here.' She moved closer, hooked her leg over his hip. 'Or at least one of them is.'

'Lex, what about everyone else in the house?'

'RJ and Jojo are sleeping and Mom and Dad won't be home for at least two hours. So as long as we're quiet...'

Shane groaned when she let the thought trail off as she pressed her lips to his. He felt his blood begin to pump a little harder, a little hotter when he rolled them so her long legs and arms wrapped around him like pale ivory vines. He arched his neck as his hands found her naked breasts, dragged his thumbs roughly over her already hardened nipples. Shane knew how much she liked that move and grinned when he watched her clap her hand to her mouth to keep from moaning his name too loudly, lest she wake her under-ten siblings.

Alexis rocked her head from side to side as she felt his hands move over her body, down her breasts to her stomach, her hips where he tugged off her panties. He stroked back up her thigh until he was sliding one clever hand between them, a single finger slipping inside her which he drew out slowly so it made her ache for him. She wanted to kill him for this one, she thought briefly, then all thoughts were gone when he took her breast into his mouth, his tongue rolling over its heated point. God, he made her feel so good, so beautiful.

Shane watched the way her body arched, moved as he pleasured her. The blue in her eyes had gone cloudy with need, then glazed over when he sped his pace until he felt the muscles of her clench around him. Her feet kicked at the covers out of reflex while she groaned low in her throat; Shane knew how much she wanted to cry out for him, to scream his name as she came but knew she had to settle for this for now.

Her chest heaving and mind spinning, Alexis somehow found the energy to pull Shane in close for a kiss.

'Shane,' she sighed in his ear, 'Shane please. Now.'

'Yes, my love.'

Shane shed his boxers and with his hands on her thighs slid into her with a soft groan; he kept his eyes on hers as he began to move inside her. They matched their strokes together, Alexis' legs wrapping around Shane's hips to keep him close, keeping the pace slow at first, then a little faster and a little faster until Alexis felt the lightening speed of the orgasm fill her up and burst through her like a thunderstorm. She let out her cry of pleasure in a single definitive 'oh!', then found Shane's mouth as he began to shudder and come deep inside her until he too was spent and they lay tangled together on the bed amongst the nest of pillows and soft sheets.

'Oh God, Shane,' Alexis sighed it, murmuring his name as she stroked her hands through his hair. 'Oh, God, that was so wonderful.'

'Not long enough, though,' Shane sighed back. 'I like a quickie as much as the next guy, but that kind of loving deserves something more than naptime naughtiness.'

'I like naptime naughtiness.'

'Me too.'

Alexis giggled. 'You think it'll still be that much fun when we're trying for a baby?'

'I think so. I think our trying is off to a good start.' Shane turned his head so his chin rested between her breasts. 'I know for sure, either way, you'll be the yummiest mummy I know.'

'Mumum, Shane. I'll be Mumum, and you'll be Daddy.'

'Papa,' he corrected her. 'In my world, it's Papa.'

'Okay, Papa.' Alexis lifted her wrist, saw the time on her watch and groaned. 'Mm, call it a quickie all you want but it looks like that took longer than we thought, babe.'

'Says you. Pass me my underwear.'

Alexis did so, then froze when she heard a young voice from the doorway.

'You guys aren't napping.'


	5. Explanations

Alexis was never more thankful for retaining the cat-like reflexes years of fencing had given her as when she scrambled up with the bedsheet wrapped around her body to face her little brother's goggle-eyed stare.

'RJ, I thought you were sleeping,' she said.

'No, I was too excited for the party tonight, and I wanted to come and ask Shane if we could have his pea-soup before the party tonight.' RJ said it in a robotic voice as he tried to process what he'd seen - his sister and Shane naked and...tangled together, making the same kinds of noises he heard them make when they were eating something really yummy for dessert. 'What were you guys doing?'

'We...' Alexis trailed off as Shane came over, fully dressed now and he put his hand on RJ's shoulders.

'Come on, little bro, time for a man-to-man talk.'

'Okay.'

Shane discretely closed the door behind him, ushered RJ downstairs to the living room; he wasn't surprised the boy looked like he'd seen a ghost. Shane sat him down on the couch and took a spot on the table so he could face his young brother-in-law. The boy was clearly still trying to process what he'd seen, so Shane knew he'd need to take a gentle approach.

'What Alexis and I were doing, that's making love, RJ.'

'You mean like...like _sex_?' he gasped, made a zombie-face. 'Shane, that's disgusting!'

'You'll change you mind in a few years, I bet,' Shane chuckled, 'but the point is, that's how it works because that's how people in love, like me and your sister, show it to each other. Sometimes it's to make the other one feel better, sometimes it's because we're so happy we have to touch each other and make each other feel as happy as we do. It's a totally natural and biological thing, and when done right, a beautiful thing too.'

'Nope.' RJ shook his head firmly. 'Still gross. But...how does it work?'

'What do you mean?'

Now it was RJ's turn to give him the fish-eye. 'Shane, you said 'bio-logical'. I know that word, I hear you and Lanie use it, that means it's got to do with body parts. How does it work?'

Now Shane was a little bit baffled and when he was about to stammer out the old 'when a man and woman having feelings for each other' stand-by, he thought of something that would probably get through to him a little bit better.

'You know the differences between boys and girls right?'

'Girls have girl parts and boys have boys parts.'

'Okay, well, think of it this way. Boys have the dragon right?'

'I hear some older boys at school call it the snake,' RJ giggled, flushing crimson.

'Dragon works better for this metaphor, dude. Boys have a dragon, right and girls have a cave, and in that cave is an egg, and when they want to make a baby, the dragon has to go into the cave and...' Shane trailed off, swallowed tightly to make sure that he said thsi part just right. 'The dragon goes into the cave and breathes fire on the egg to make a baby.'

'Goes in the...' RJ's face went from crimson to white; had it been another situation Shane would have laughed at how cartoonish it was when the boy let out a loud 'Eeeeeyeuuuuuuuuch! Shane that is so gross! Ew ew ew! Ew! No! No more of that! I've learned my science lesson for the day.'

'Science lesson?'

RJ and Shane looked up, saw Alexis was fully dressed and look just as confused as Shane knew he felt. 'Shane says that to make a baby, the boy's dragon goes in the girl's cave and breathes fire on the egg!'

'Yeah, that's about right.' Alexis pressed quivering lips together that threatened to grin, and that grin would have turned to laughter that RJ certainly did not need right now.

'But that is so...so... yeeeeeuch!'

He gave a dramatic shudder, and when Alexis came over to sit beside him, RJ shook his head. 'No, no, you guys can't do that anymore, it is too weird and yucky!'

'RJ, I can assure you just about every baby in the world is made like that,' Alexis told him, and for whatever reason this had him snapping out of his cloud of disgusted outrage.

'All babies? Even my Trini, and Jojo's Devon and you guys? Even _me_?'

'Even you,' Alexis reassured him.

'Huh. And...it's a good thing? Like you guys actually...' RJ's cheeks went bright red once more. 'You guys actually like doing that to each other?'

'Yes, RJ, that's part of what makes it beautiful to experience with someone you love, when you're old enough.'

'Well, alright then,' he decided, as though the happy couple needed his seal of approval in order to be intimate. 'Since you guys love each other, and you're grown-ups who know best, I believe you.'

Shane and Alexis each breathed a short sigh of relief, but the moment was short lived when the front door to the loft opened and Beckett and Castle returned with bags in their hands; RJ raced over to hug them both.

'Hi Mumum, hi Daddy! You'll never guess what Shane taught me!'

_Oh fuck_ was all Shane could think as Beckett smiled lovingly at her son, set down her purse and the bags. 'What did he teach you.'

'He explained how babies get made!'

Alexis and Shane watched her parents go very still, look over the boy's head to the babysitters. 'Did he now,' Beckett said sweetly, the same way a widow spider would welcome her mate into a web.

'Yeah, Mumum,' RJ went on excitedly, 'I went to go find Alexis and Shane and they were hiding the dragon in the cave in her old room, and then Shane explained to me that is how babies get made.'

'And how does that work,' Castle murmured, noting how his daughter and son-in-law were trying with all their might to avoid his piercing gaze.

'The boy dragon goes into the girl cave and then he breathes fire on the egg to make a baby,' the boy stated with matter-of-fact excitement. 'That's how it works right?'

'Pretty much. RJ can you go and see if Jojo is still napping for me?' Beckett said; the moment RJ was out of earshot, she actually curled her lip into a snarl at Alexis and Shane. 'Well? What do you two have to say for yourselves?'


	6. New Years

'How's your ass feeling, babe?'

'My ass?'

Alexis giggled as she sipped her ginger-ale; no more booze, she knew that from listening to her mother and friends. She'd have time to read up on the stuff once her boards were done. 'The way Mom and Dad dished it out to us, but especially to you, because they think it was your idea.'

'Yeah, you really need to straighten them out,' Shane told her while steering her towards the delicious looking late-supper buffet. When she just continued to snicker, he poked her in the side. 'It's not funny, Doctor Weaver.'

'Right, because I'm so happy to tell my parents I had the idea to bang my hubby when my under-ten siblings were napping since I thought we could fit in a quick one.'

'Yeah, that'll do.'

'Shane.'

'Alright, alright.' Shane looped his arm around her neck and kissed her temple, smiled when he saw her rub the tattoo on his right forearm. 'You know once we reach a certain milestone that will be cause for more ink, right?'

'Yes, I know.'

'You dont' sound thrilled,' Shane commented.

'No, I love all your doodles, I just want...' Alexis looked around. 'Until we have an announcement to make, I want to keep this development to ourselves okay?'

'Sure, Lex.' After their little escapade and the dressing-down they'd gotten from Castle and Beckett Shane knew that keeping the fact they were actively trying for a baby was of utmost importance. Not only to keep it personal but also to surprise everyone greatly with the news once they had liftoff. 'You know what this reminds me of?'

'What?'

'Our first New Year's Eve together as a couple.'

'Oh, yes.' Alexis smiled. 'That was quite the night of balancing acts, wasn't it?'

'I remember thinking how impotent I felt not being able to kiss you the way I wanted.'

'Yeah, that was another night we didn't get a chance to have a little last bang of the year that time, did we?'

'True, but considering the circumstances, the fact we weren't put in front of the firing squad that night is a minor miracle.'

'Very true, plus it made the actually discovery for others more fun, didn't it?'

'That it did.'

'Hey, baby-sitters!'

The couple turned and saw Esposito with his arms around Meredeth's waist as they sidled up to the buffet. 'Heard you two had a little extra company during sexy times this afternoon,' he grinned lasciviously, making Meredeth roll her eyes.

'Javi, you know it wasn't on purpose.'

'The banging or the fact RJ just became the Kevin Ryan of the second generation of the Twelfth Precinct?'

'Both.' Meredeth turned back, her eyes sharp and shrewd. 'Let me guess. Not a lot of time for yourselves lately what with family stuff going on between Christms and Chanukah, and you knew you probably wouldn't get a chance at a party-quickie tonight so you made it nap-time instead.'

'Damn, babe, you coulda been a detective too.' Esposito put his hand to her cheek, gave her a noisy kiss on the other. 'Maybe we should go have a nap.'

'It's almost that time of the month for me, and I feel disugsting and puffy.'

'So? You're still hot.'

'How about we get our snack on first and go from there? If I don't throw up, I'll screw you blind and senseless first chance we get tonight, okay?' Meredeth promised him as though he were one of the children; Shane had it on good authority the handsome detective did indeed become impossibly immature the more he drank on party nights.

'Deal.'

The Espositos moved down the buffet line, unknowingly leaving Alexis with something to ponder. Meredeth complained of being puffy and gross feeling yet her husband still wanted to make love with her. Would Shane be the same when she had similar complaints about her body once it was swollen up with a baby?

'Stop that.'

'What?' Alexis looked at him and Shane cocked an eyebrow.

'Your'e thinking far too much for a holiday party. Let's fix that with some tex-mex and pasta.'

'Only my father,' she sighed as she saw the dishes of baked ravioli and penne amongst the quesadillas and enchiladas mingled with salads and rolls and other sundry snacks and treats. She grabbed a plate, selected a little of everything, and was about to take her plate over to one of the tables when she heard her brother's voice, insistent and impatient as he chatted with Trini.

'It's true, Trini, Shane told me that's how it works!'

'No way, RJ, you're just making that up to be gross. There's no way you saw Alexis and Shane doing that.'

'Okay fine.'

Alexis froze on the spot when she saw RJ looking around and catching her eye, then dragging Trini over with him. 'Hey little bro, you having fun tonight?'

'Uh-huh, listen.' RJ pointed discreetly at Trini, who wore the same disbelieving expression Alexis had seen on Meredeth's face when she was listening to the nonsense her twins often pulled. 'This one doesn't believe me that the dragon goes into the cave to make a baby, that that's how babies really get made.'

'I keep telling him he's just being a gross and nasty boy, and you'll set him straight, right?' Trini looked to Alexis for female solidarity, then felt her jaw drop when Alexis shook her head. 'What! Come _on_ Alexis! Help a sister out here!'

'Trini,' Alexis giggled, 'I'm sorry to disappoint you but seriously, RJ has it right.'

'Man! No wonder Max freaked out if he saw _that_!' Trini made a zombie face, then looked at RJ. 'When we're big enough, we're never ever going to do that, right?'

'Never, Trini,' RJ agreed, and to prove it, he took her hand and kissed her cheek before shooting a pointed look at Alexis. 'See? We can show each other we love each other without being gross. Come on Trini, let's go find Devon and Heddie for our card game.'

'Problem?' Shane asked, wandering up as he watched Alexis watch her brother and his sweetheart leave.

'It's official, RJ is the Kevin Ryan of the second generation,' she replied, and recounted what RJ and Trini shared with her. Shane just nodded, pulled her close for a kiss.

'I know we're avoiding alcohol and all, but I don't think a little drink is going to hurt right now.'


	7. Valentine's

**SIX WEEKS LATER**

When Esposito and Ryan walked into the morgue to wrap up final details on Valentine's Day, they weren't surprised to find Shane humming to himself as he tidied up his space. The body he'd been working on had been wheeled to the cold-storage wall and he was taking his blades and bowls to the sterilizer, and for a moment the Ry-Sposito monster just watched him. He was hilarious to watch when he thought no-one else was watching him.

'Hey man,' Esposito called out, and Shane grinned.

'Do you know what today is?'

'Valentine's Day?'

'Alexis gets home from Princeton.'

'Oh, that's right she was writing her medical boards this week,' Esposito nodded. 'Lindsay's been doing the same thing too. Man, that's gotta be tough, being five months pregnant and doing that.'

'I can't imagine what it would be like,' Shane agreed, 'I was a basket case enough on my own without worrying about stressing out my baby.'

'Just goes to prove whoever said women are the weaker sex was a fucking moron,' Esposito concluded.

'I'd love to see that joker watch his wife sweat and swear her way through drug-free child-birth,' Ryan added. 'Then we'll decide what's weak.'

'All this is well and good but I'm on a timeline here, gentlemen,' Shane reminded them, 'as I have Valentine's plans with my wife I have no intention of going to waste, so is there a point to your visit?'

'We're just getting that finalized report for the Griffth case.'

'On my desk in my outbox.'

Esposito nodded, went to find it; Ryan stayed behind so he could tease Shane a little. 'So Valentine's plans, huh?'

'Nope, forget it Ryan, I'm not gonna bite.'

'I'm not asking for a blow-by-blow, Doctor Weaver, we just wanna know how whiny Castle's gonna be tomorrow when we have dinner there since he knows without a doubt his baby girl likes to get you naked at every opportunity.'

'Alexis and I have been lovers for about seven years now, and we've been married for almost four, I'm sure he figured out that his firstborn baby likes sex quite awhile ago,' Shane replied blithely, knowing egging his friend and winding him up would distract Ryan from prying into his private plans with his wife. 'Imagine it's Mally and-'

'Stop. Right. There.' Ryan cut off the words as he gave Shane the evil eye, then snarled. 'You bitch, you did that on purpose.'

'Guilty, but this bitch is going to see his wife at a very fancy hotel with lots of champagne, bubble-bath bubble, and very little clothing. Have a good night, guys.'

Shane headed for the locker room, changed into his street clothes before dropping his reports on Pearlmutter's secretary's desk and heading out to catch the train to the Ameritania hotel where he and Alexis had spent the night of their six month anniversary together. He knew he would be arriving after her - she'd said she'd wanted to go straight to the hotel and catch a nap before their plans that night; if she went home to bed she feared she'd never wake up - and seeing as it was the holiday for love, he wondered if maybe she might be waiting for him already, dressed up in some skimpy little black number that contrasted against the pale-milk of her skin and her fiery hair.

_Down boy_, was all he could think, _you'll get your chance soon_.

He informed the desk management he was meeting his wife in their hotel room and moments later was on the fifth floor outside five-one-five. He slipped the key card into the waiting slot, shoved the door when the light turned green.

'Hello? Where's my sexy little strawberry.

Shane received a reply but not the one he was hoping for - it came from the bathroom, the unmistakable sound of Alexis being violently ill. He put down his bag and headed for the loo, and pouted for his wife. She was bent forward, wretching like her life depended on it, dressed not in the skimpy black silk of his fantasies but in thick navy blue pyjama pants and one of his NYPD fun-run t-shirts. Her long hair was still in its French braid, the way he knew she liked when she had to appear confident and strong but approachable.

'Lex, you alright, babe?'

'Shane, that you?'

'Nope, it's an axe murderer who cut off your husbands face and is wearing like a mask.'

'Well, axe murderer can you...' Alexis trailed off as a fresh of nausea hit and she pitched forward, expelling whatever remained in her stomach. She rocked back, planted herself on her heels as she reached for the silver knob to flush. 'Jesus, I feel so crappy. It's not the flu, at least I hope not, or I want my money back from the doctor for my flu shot.'

'Could be your body is still coming down from the stress of your medical board exams.'

'Probably. I know they were done two days ago but it's a lot of stress that is being lifted.' Alexis looked dolefully at her husband. 'Some Valentine's Day, huh?'

'Could be worse.'

'How?'

'Easy, I could go down on you right when you got your period,' Shane pointed out and Alexis responded by gagging and spitting . 'yeah, that was kinda tasteless wasn't it?'

'Funny man. Wanna know the sad part?'

'What's that?'

'I'm completely starving between puke sessions,' Alexis admitted. 'Like not I want two sandwiches from Gennaro's starving, I mean, I want a burger and a sandwich and fried chicken with all the fixings and that's not including veggies and dessert.'

'Maybe you're already pregnant,' Shane said, and his wife laughed as she rose up from the floor, ran water in the sink; she cupped her palm and drank straight from the tap.

'Possible but unlikely, we haven't been trying too hard yet, remember?'

'True but short of abstinence nothign's foolproof.'

'For right now, I just wanna crawl into bed and eat and sleep.'

'Okay.' As he'd had a feeling this would happen, Shane followed Alexis out into their room's sitting area and called up the room service extension. 'Yes, this is Doctor Weaver in five-one-five. I had the Romance for Two dinner requested, but I'd like to cancel that and have the Down-Time menu instead. Thank you so much. Yes, just put it on the room bill.'

'Down-Time menu?' Alexis asked.

'Instead of sexy canapes, strawberries and champagne, we're having tomato soup, chicken club sandwiches and pomme-frites.'

'Oh I love you Shane.'


	8. Moments: 7 Weeks, 5 Days

A week later, Alexis still felt like shit. No worse than that, because it was ebbing and flowing so rapidly she had no idea if she was going to be able to keep down her lunch one moment and the next she wanted to eat everything in sight. As a result she could barely handle more than ginger-ale and soup, and it was driving her crazy.

She pressed a gloved hand to her mouth as she walked the short distance from the subway to the door of her building. God, was this what morning sickness was like, she wondered, because if it was she prayed to God it wouldn't last too long. Then again, she knew she was probably just a week or two late from stress. It had happened before and she wasn't surprised it was happening around the time she'd taken the biggest test of her medical career.

When she opened the door to home, Alexis dropped her bag into the armchair in the living room, stepped out of her winter boots. She'd walked half-way to the refrigerator to find a little snack before she felt her stomach pitch again. 'God damn, I do not have time for this!'

She stripped off her clothes as quickly as she could and made it into the bathroom, bending over the toilet as her stomach voided its contents into the porcelain bowl. She stayed there until she was certain she wasn't going to lose any organs out her mouth, then flushed, sighed. Why was she so crappy feeling still?

Looking around for some toilet paper, she opened the under-sink cabinet and froze when she saw the blue box of Tampax beside the mouthwash. Frantically, she began to calculate and felt her stomach do another flip-flop, this time of excitement.  
Standing up, she turned sideways to examine her body in the mirror. No, there were no visible signs of it, she thought. But there were a few others, now that she began to get flashes of the last two weeks.

'Hey, honey, you just get in?'

Alexis heard her husband, ran her thumb over the underside of her wedding rings. 'In here, heaving my guts out.'

'Aw, sweetheart.' Shane gave her a sympathetic look; he'd followed the trail of clothes to the bathroom. 'Still have the flu?'

Alexis turned to look at him, eyes shining brightly. 'I think it might be morning sickness.'

'Lex, you think...seriously?' Shane blinked, looked at her slim and lovely body and its possibilities.

'Yeah. I've been sick for like two weeks, my boobs hurt, I'm cranky and horny and hungry like all the time, and most tellingly, I haven't gotten my period since before Christmas.' Alexis let out a snorting laugh, clapped her hands to her mouth. 'I think we made a baby, Shane.'

'A baby. Holy fuck, a baby.' Shane laughed, pulled her to her feet and into his arms for a kiss; the storm of emotions churned through him like a summer storm, so much so he had no idea what to do with himself. He rubbed his hands over her shoulders, looked around. 'We should go now, to the hospital to get you tested. I don't trust those drugstore things.'

Alexis laughed at his enthusiasm. 'Shane?'

'Yeah.'

'I need some clothes first.'

'Oh, right.'

Shane waited impatiently while she dressed; he still had no idea what to do with himself as he waited for her, and wondered how the hell his father had waited in the hospital waiting room in Amsterdam while his mother had brought him into the world. He would be there, there was no force of heaven or earth that would keep him from Alexis' side, if indeed their instincts were right and they'd a baby already.

'Okay.'

He glanced over, smiled as he saw Alexis had returned from the bedroom in jeans and a warm sweater, reached for her purse. 'Let's go see if we've got a little bumpy on the way.'

* * *

Forty-five minutes later Alexis and Shane were in the fast-track of Saint Vincent's, where luck would have it Honey-Milk was at the desk talking to another nurse. She excused herself when she saw her friends, gave them a friendly but concerned look.

'What brings you in here, guys?'

'I, ah...I need some tests done, Jenn,' Alexis said tentatively.

'What kind? What's up?'

'You know...' She trailed off, patted her belly below the navel. 'Tests?'

Honey-Milk's eyes went round as saucers and she let out a little giggle. 'Oh, tests! Of course, I'll get you set up as possible.'

They still had to wait their turn, but it always helped to know a friendl, and Honey-Milk was very good about this kind of thing. She even did Alexis' intake information though she was off-duty already, and sat with them until Harvey walked into the exam room; he greeted them with a friendly smile, Even at nearly sixty he was still as weather-worn and charmingly steady as ever.

'Well, well, Lady-Doctor Weaver, let's see if we have a little Weaver on the way.'

He set up the sonogram equipment, and went through the time honoured routine of squeezing the cold gel onto Alexis' belly and moving the instrument over it. Harvey looked at the screen and pursed his lips, nodded.

'Have a look.'

He turned the screen so that both Shane and Alexis could see what Harvey saw - in the centre was a shape curled up like a little mouse, along with a little flicker of a heartbeat.

'There's the heartbeat, and that's the head and if you look closely, you can see the arms are already starting to form. From this it looks about seven weeks old, give or take a few days.'

'Oh my god.' Alexis breathed deeply, looked at the screen as she held Shane's hand tightly. 'Oh my god.'

'We made a baby, Lex,' Shane said, trying to fight off tears and losing; he buried his face against Alexis' cheek. 'We're going to be parents.'

'Can we hear the heartbeat?'

'Sure.'

Harvey flipped the audio switch on and Alexis closed her eyes as she heard the _wob-wob-wob_. The sheer overwhelming beauty of it had happy tears leaking out of her eyes, and she felt Shane's lips on her forehead, his shaky breath on her skin.

'I love you so much, Lex.'

'Congrats you guys!' Honey-Milk clapped and jumped up and down on the spot. 'Oh, please, please tell me you're going to let me be there when you tell Rick and Kate and RJ!'

'Oh my god.' Alexis looked at Shane and snickered. 'How are we going to tell our parents?'


	9. Celebrates

The new parents to be left the hospital with an appointment the following Tuesday to go and visit Harvey during regular office hours to go over the finer points of this new development, arm in arm and filled with the exact same emotions - a thrilling combination of wonder, terror and excitement.

The moment they were home and out of their winter clothes, Shane scooped Alexis into his arms and kissed her fiercely; he actually lifted her off her feet and grinned against her mouth.

'Bedroom,' he managed.

'Shane,' she laughed, 'Aren't you supposed to go to the loft for cards with the guys tonight?'

'I already canceled on my way home since I knew you were still sick. Besides right now, we have more important things to do like celebrate.'

'And how are we going to do that?' Alexis teased him as he walked them back to their bedroom.

'Easy, recreate the conception.'

He had her top off before they landed on the bed and his hands fumbled at her pants; Shane couldn't wait to put his hands on her body. It was more than his wife's body now, it was more than just Alexis, though she had never been 'just Alexis' to him. Now she was Alexis, the mother of his baby.

When he had her down to her panties, Alexis stretched on her back, let her palm rest on her belly. A baby, she thought with a giddy little shimmer. She and Shane had made a baby. She studied her husband as he stripped off his sweater, his jeans and boxers so he was naked when he stretched out on the bed with her. 'Shouldn't I be all the way naked too?'

'In a moment.' Shane kissed her, ran his hand between her breasts before cupping one against his palm. He leaned in, murmured in her ear, 'I like getting you out of your panties.'

Alexis' eyes sank shut as she let out a soft and delicate moan. 'Shane, you are so good to me, my love.'

'To both of you.' He streaked his hand down to her belly, and gave it a little rub. 'You're a two-for-one deal now, Lex.'

'Yeah, I am.' Alexis put her hand to Shane's cheek. 'I love you so much, Shane.'

'I love you right back, Lex.'

Shane shifted so he could kiss her once more, his hand covering her breast once more and he stroked his thumb over her nipple to tease it into a sweet, taut little peak. Her pleasured moan told him she wanted him to draw it out so it would be the height of pleasure for them both. His kips trailed from her jaw to her neck, down where he felt her pulse rabbit under his tantalizing lips. She was so soft and sweet, he thought, and everything in the world precious to him.

Alexis arched her back so her body pressed into his. He was sexual and loving, comfort and arousal all in one, and now the father of her baby. There was no more potent magic than that of the man right here in her arms. When she felt the damp tip of his finger on her nipple, another one join its mate, she ground her hips against his and groaned, 'Shane, that feels so good my love. I...I want more of that.'

'Of course Lex. But first.'

Now Shane started at her ankles and ran his hands up her legs so he could tug down her panties in a slow, sensual journey before resting between her thighs. He could feel her already getting wet for him, already that damp slickness there to tease and torment him. He pressed his lips between her breasts, then kissed one to tease her even more before jutting out his tongue and laving the very tip of her nipple. He rolled it with his tongue and heard her cry out his name in two syllables. He knew she was hot for him if she was at two syllables but he knew he could get her to four. So he moved to her other breast, scraping his thumb over the tip of the one he'd just left. When he felt a fresh flood of heat from her body, it was his his turn to groan.

'Alexis, this is all for you tonight my darling. What do you want?'

'I...' Alexis looped her arm around his neck, pulled him close to murmur it in his ear. 'I want your tongue between my thighs, I want to come for you like that first.'

As this was as close as Alexis could get to dirty talk, Shane nodded, and planting a trail of kisses down her body, he paused just below her navel. 'You in there,' he murmured, 'cover your ears, this is gonna be loud.'

He moved over her hip, then gently nudged apart his wife's thighs so he could see her, beautiful and slick with need for him. He licked a little pattern over the inside of her thigh with his tongue before he found her, sweet as honey and hot as hell; for a moment he wondered if her hormones were already kicking in.

Alexis' head rolled side to side as Shane laved at her, flicking his tongue in all the right spots and making her moan for more. God he was good at this, so damn good; she never anted him to stop. She propped herself on her elbows so she could look down her body momentarily and let out a sharp cry when she felt his two fingers slip over her heated, secretive lips and part them before his tongue speared inside her. He darted in and out, until Alexis felt the orgasm pin her senses to the ground as she came.

'God, Shane, yes! Yes, oh, God, baby, more of that, more, I...yes!'

Shane gave a low rumbling chuckle. He'd had Alexis be out of control horny for him before but this was different as this was pregnancy hormones and he knew those would mean bitchiness and horniness in equal measure, and make-up sex supreme as an apology. He also knew it wouldn't always be like that, but tonight and any other night like it he would take it and run. Then everything went blurry as he felt Alexis fingers dig into his shoulders and bring him back up to kiss her, her own juices still on his lips. The fact she didn't care was sexy as hell to him; then it was hard to think of anything as she found him, hot and hard as iron, and she slipped her delicate hand between their bodies to guide him inside.

'Slow, Shane,' she purred at him, 'until you can't take anymore.'

'We'll always have more,' he replied in the same purr back to her. 'Always.'


	10. Anouncements

The next day, Alexis woke to the sound of mumbling in the kitchen. A look at the clock had her bleariness evaporating. She'd already booked the day off to possibly go and see her physician about her mystery flu, so she wasn't going to be late for work. But she hadn't anticipated sleeping until almost nine in the morning either.

Kicking off the covers, she leaped out of bed and found her robe, padded to the kitchen in her bare feet where she found her husband manning the stove. 'Shane, sweetheart, why are you home?'

'Called in to Pearlmutter, told him I had a family emergency and could he switch me out for midnights tonight instead, he told me forget it, take the day since I'd be in the lab and he's got Boccarin in there needing to do some of her solo training.' Shane grinned over his shoulder at her. 'Besides, I'm kinda tired after last night so an extra day off is kinda nice.'

'You're tired? I'm the one growing a person,' she laughed, wrapping her arms around his middle from behind. She snuffled as she kissed his shoulder. 'What are we having?'

'Well, you need fibre and protein, I remember Lanie going on about that all three times when Dave would show up with oatmeal and smoothies for her. So you are getting turkey BLTs in a whole wheat pita. Lex?'

Shane felt her arms slide from around his waist, heard her sprint for the bathroom and pouted a little for his wife. 'Poor girl,' he murmured, as he continued to make the sandwiches. He thought of going to check on her, but realized he'd made the right call when Alexis came back and snagged a few slices of deli mozzarella and munched down.

'Are we having milk or juice?' she asked.

'Both. Don't over-do it, though, sweetie, because we still have something important to discuss that might make your stomach go up and down.'

'How to tell my parents.' Alexis nodded. 'Why aren't we telling yours right away?'

'Because my parents said they didn't care if you were going into labour when it happened, they wanted to be told about a grandchild in person.'

The idea of Chaim Weaver, so laid-back and easy-going, getting riled about anything that wasn't football was too hard to process before breakfast so Alexis shrugged and dug into her pita. 'Oh, yum, baby,' she sighed around a healthy mouthful, 'this is so good. And I have an idea about that too.'

* * *

That night, after a delicious dinner of spaghetti and meatballs at the loft with the family and telling them they were officially trying to start a family, Alexis could feel her heart pounding against her ribs. She'd told her parents serious things before, like when she'd gotten into Cambridge and Princeton, when she'd begun dating Shane, but this one would top them all.

When the others had come into the living room for a post-dinner board game - Jojo insisted they spend some time together on a family activity - and RJ and Beckett were setting up the game, they got their chance when Jojo climbed onto Shane's lap and gave him a little hug.

'Have you seen Lindsay and Adam soon?' she asked sweetly. 'We got to visit with her on the week-end. Her bumpy tummy is so big now!'

'That's good, that means the baby is getting nice and big and healthy,' Shane replied, smiling at his pint-sized sister in law.

'When are you guys going to have a baby.' Jojo looked expectantly at her brother-in-law and her sister, blinking in anticipation.

As opportunities went, Alexis knew they'd be hard pressed to find better. 'Well, we've decided that since I'm finished my tests to get another part of my doctor's training, we are going to start trying to have a baby.'

'Oh, good plan. Shane?'

'Yes, Jojo,' he laughed.

'Give Alexis a big kiss. That is a good start.'

'If you insist.' Shane turned to Alexis, gave her a loud and noisy kiss that had just a hint of edge and heat to it. 'There, how was that?'

'Very good.'

'Oh my.' Alexis dramatically put a hand to her forehead, massaged it with her fingertips. 'That was a very good kiss, Shane. In fact, I think it did the trick.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, I think it just put a little baby in my tummy.'

'Lemme check.' Shane gently poked and prodded at her belly, knowing that Castle, Beckett and RJ were staring along with Jojo now. 'Yep, it's official, Doctor Weaver. You've got a baby in there.'

'Oh my god, Lex,' Castle breathed, 'Are you serious? Seriously?'

'Seriously.' Unable to hold it in any more, Alexis finally let the big goofy grin split over her face. 'I'm pregnant, Daddy.'

'Oh my god! Sweetheart!' Castle jumped to his feet to give Alexis and Shane each a bone-crushing hug. 'My little girl, a mom!'

'Lex!' Beckett popped up too, wrapped her arms around her baby girl. 'Oh, Lex congratulations! Does anyone else know?'

'No, No, wait, Honey-Milk knows because she was in the room with Harvey when he did my exam.' Alexis swiped at her eyes, then turned to RJ and Jojo. 'Do I get hugs from you too?'

'Uh-huh! You're havin' a baby, Lex! That is so ess-citing!' Jojo gave her a big squeeze. 'You gonna be a guh-reat mom.'

'RJ?' Shane looked at his little brother in law who looked like he'd ben hit on the head with a croquet mallet.

'You in there buddy?'

'I'm gonna be an uncle. That's even huger-er than being a big bro.' RJ turned stunned little eyes to his sister, stared at her belly. 'You're gonna need me in the kitchen more than ever, Alexis.'

Alexis let out a watery laugh, and held out her hands for her brother. 'Come here you.'

'I wanna feel it inside,' Jojo insisted, stretching over to pat at Alexis' belly. 'Where is it? Where's the bumpy?'

'Oh, sweetie it's still really little, we won't feel it moving until close to my birthday in May.'

'Jojo, come on.' RJ held out his hand. 'We have to go get Alexis her milk. She needs milk for the baby to be healthy.'

'Okay, Ah-Shay!'

The children scampered off, leaving Castle and Beckett to give the parents to be each huge hugs. 'So when does everyone else find out?' Beckett asked,

'Tomorrow, and no saying a word, we are going to have a little fun with everyone.'


	11. Surprises I

'Hey, Doctor Weaver, think fast.'

Shane turned away from his computer station in his autopsy theatre, saw the Ry-Sposito monster there, the Ryan half holding a paper bag in his hand with a dark-blue curlicue R on the side. 'You brought me Remy's?' he said in disbelief.

'Considering you looked worse than the corpse we tagged this morning, I'd say you need a pick me up, especially considering the big party weekend for Superbowl Sunday we're having in the Hamptons, starting with tonight. You feeling up for it?' Ryan asked him. 'You're not catching that rotten cold Alexis had on your hearts-day, are you?'

'No, definitely not, just...she was up late last night. With me,' he added pointedly and Ryan's cheeks went candy-apple red.

'Nice.'

Shane thought of how he'd been holding back Alexis' hair for her while she'd vomited; apparently morning sickness for her was more like midnight sickness since she was getting it worse at night than in the daytime. 'I can assure you, it's not what you think.'

'Right.' Esposito winked. 'You two just had chocolate shakes and played _Guardians of Valhalla 17_ like teenagers.'

'It was banana shakes and Lego _Dark Knight Rises_.' Shane held up the sandwich. 'Thanks again for this.'

'So, what time you guys showing up tonight?'

'Hold that thought.'

Shane picked up his ringing cellphone, used his best caring-hubby voice when he saw it was his wife. 'Hello my little strawberry.'

'Hey, daddy,' she teased him. 'You alone with the dead?'

'Nah, I got a few live ones. The Ry-Sposito monster brought me lunch.'

'About that.' Alexis nibbled her lip, taking great pride in this moment. 'You think you could pick up a few things for me to snack on for the drive to the Hamptons?'

'Sure, lay it on me.'

'Some club soda, cranberry-almond granola bars, and a McChicken with extra mayo.'

'Okay, but if you yak, it's your fault.'

'Oh I know,' she giggled, then rubbed a hand over her belly. 'We love you.'

'Love you too.' Shane hung up, turned to see Ryan and Esposito trying without much success not to snicker. 'What?'

'We didn't say a thing bro,' Esposito replied.

'You're telling me neither of your wives ever felt under the weather?'

'Fair point, and oh, damn you're saved by the bell.' Esposito looked at the text on his phone, gave Ryan a little pat on the chest. 'Gotta roll, Beckett wants us back at the precinct for interview observation.'

Shane waited until they'd left before he went to the cold wall and opened it to see his latest customer. 'Whew, buddy, 'I just managed to get a cravings-run request list from my baby mama and two of my best friends didn't suspect a damn thing,' he said to the corpse. 'Which means tonight is going to be even more fun.'

* * *

'You're sure?'

Shane only shook his head and laughed as they pulled into the driveway of the Castle castle in the Hamptons. The drive was already packed with cars and he could see the lights blazing in the windows. 'Alexis, I got them to put extra extra-mayo on your chicken thing.'

'Hmm. I still want a chicken sandwich with lots of mayo, though.'

'Well, I'm sure we can hook you up inside.'

Alexis waited until Shane had parked and the engine was shut off. 'You think they'll like this? The way we're planning to surprise them?'

'Alexis, they'll love it. Come on, let's go.'

She grabbed his hand excitedly and they raced to the house like children, calling out 'hellos' as they entered. Despite the multitude of children around, Alexis could smell the tangy edge of liquor being poured from one of the rooms and she wondered if maybe their little plan wouldn't work if any of them had been in the booze tonight.

'Hey, it's Shalexis!'

Alexis turned and grinned when she saw Lili with a grin just slightly too wide on her face; she gave her friend a squeezing hug. 'Hey, there's my girl. How many of those-' she tapped the red cup in Lili's hand '-have you had?'

'Just two but they're yummy. You should have one!'

'Later,' Alexis told her with a wink. 'You gonna be cool for games later?'

'I'm not drunk just a little bit tipsy,' Lili said haughtily. 'Oh, and your brother and sis'er are looking for you.'

'Thanks, Lili. Tipsy my ass,' Alexis muttered with a grin as the petite and plowed Puerto-Rican wandered off, hollering for Cam to get Shane and Alexis a drink. 'She's gonna be completely wrung out for the game tomorrow.'

But being the dutiful big sister, Alexis wandered through, saying hello to people as she past until she found RJ and Jojo in the living room. The moment they saw her, they were flying into her arms.

'Alexis! Over here!' Jojo beckoned her down, whispered in her ear, 'We didn't say a word to any people. We keep our puh-romises.'

'That's my girl.'

'But when are you gonna tell everyone?' RJ added in the same hushed tone; it was just noisy enough he wasn't overheard.

'Don't worry, we are going to be surprising everyone.'

'Okay, Alexis.' Jojo wrinkled her nose, blinked. 'We got it.'

Alexis laughed, made her way back through the sea of people to Shane; when she found he murmured in her ear, 'We're the last to arrive so your dad wants to do the photos now.'

'Perfect.'

'It'll be fun.' He kissed her cheek and grinned as Castle announced to the room they were going to take some pictures for TJ since he was going on a summer exchange program to Italy for three weeks that summer and he wanted pictures from home. Despite the children being on their best behaviour, some were starting to get very antsy by the time the last shot rolled around but Shane knew their patience would be well rewarded.

'Okay, just one more, come on, guys!'

Shane set his camera discreetly to video mode on the tripod beside Castle's still-shot, so that when he said what he needed to say, they would have the moment in video and captured. Slipping over beside Alexis, he squeezed her hand tightly when she sat down on his lap in the chair, as everyone posed for the cameras.

'Now, on three, everyone say, Lex is pregnant!' he told them cheerfully, and all hell broke loose.


	12. Surprises II

The first reaction, and naturally the loudest, came from Lili who let out a screeching 'What!', pressing her hands to her mouth, then on her breasts; Meredeth was not to be outdone by her sister-in-law, either and let out an ear-drum shattering squeal.

'Eeeeee! Oh wow! Oh wow!'

'Honey! Congratulations!' Lindsay and Sloan elbowed their way past everyone else and pulled their bestie in for a great big hug,

Lindsay's already big belly bumping into Alexis' non-existent one.

As the girls crowded around Alexis, asking her how she was feeling and when did she find out, and of course when did the baby get made, Shane found himself surrounded by the men and getting bear hugs from Esposito and Ryan.

'Dude, you sneaky little fucker,' Esposito laughed as he pulled in his friend for congratulations. 'You knew the whole time we were giving you shit at the morgue today, didn't you?'

'We've known since Thursday afternoon. Honey-Milk and Harvey took care of us at the hospital.'

'Guess since that falls in medical-privacy stuff, can't be too pissed at Jenny for sitting on that one, huh?' But Ryan gave his friend a hug and slapped his cheek a little. 'We are gonna have so much fun with you, buddy.'

'I can't wait,' Shane replied with a wide grin. 'I'm scared shitless but I'm so excited.'

'As any first-time daddy should be. Oh boy.'

'What?'

But Shane felt little arms wrap around his legs from behind, and actually knock him forward a step. He twisted, grinned once more when he saw Leo and Trini, along with Violet and Heddie. 'Hey guys!'

'Shane, you're gonna be a daddy!' Trini bounced and clapped her hands. 'Did you and Alexis get to see its picture already?'

'We certainly did, but we're going to have a checkup next week, to make sure everything is growing right.'

'That's a good idea. You have to make sure the baby isn't sick,' Leo nodded seriously, making Violet roll her eyes.

'Leo, it's a happy time! Just think, there's going to be another baby for trick or treating!' But she moved closer to her sweetheart, held his hand tightly. 'It's okay to be nervous.'

'Leo?' Shane crouched down to see the youngster who looked so much like his father it was nearly scary. 'What's up, why are you nervous?'

'I'unno,' Leo said with a little blush in his cheeks. He wasn't about to admit Alexis with a baby in her tummymade him feel all squirmy and yucky, thanks to his twin's knowledge from RJ about how babies really got made.

'No bein' nuh-viss!' Heddie gave Leo a poke in the tummy, which made him giggle in reflex, then batted her blue eyes at Shane. 'There no baby in Alessis tummy, it too 'mall!'

'Oh, Heddie sweet pea.' Shane shifted his attention to the adorable three-year-old. 'There is a baby in there, it's just very tiny, it needs until back-to-school time to get bigger.'

'Nuh-uh, you tuh-rickin' me,' Heddie insisted.

'Oh really?' Shane pulled out his cellphone for Heddie to see the sonogram and he watched as her little jaw dropped, her little face light up with happiness. He snorted out a laugh when Heddie turned to Leo and poked him in the chest.

'You silly bum, no bein' sad! Alessis haffa baby! She be a mama and Shane be a daddy!' Heddie through her hands in the air and did a little dance. 'Hurray, hurray! Yea fo' lit-tle babies! Where Alessis, gotta give-a tummy mooshes!'

Heddie turned around, zeroed in on Alexis with Mallory, Dell, and Tessi, all of whom were rubbing her tummy and grinning from ear to ear.

'Alexis, you need to drink lots of milk, and eat healthy snacks, and maybe you should make Shane rub your feet,' Dell told her. 'That's what Sloanie asked Jeremy to do.'

'I don't think we're quite there yet, Dell,' Alexis laughed.

'Baby need mun-shees, be big an' suh-tong.' Heddie flexed her little arm. 'Jus' like me.'

'Exactly. Alexis, we will fix you up.' Tessi took the little girl's hand, turned her dark blue eyes on Alexis. 'What would you like to eat?'

'I don't know, what is there for snacks?'

'We'll ask Mami or Daddy, they know best.'

Alexis felt a liquid rush in her stomach; she was going to have that now too, a little part of her and Shane that would look to them to be the all-knowing gurus of everything. The idea of that scared her to death and made her want to jump up and down with joy simultaneously. She held back a laugh when Heddie dropped Tessi's hand and took Alexis' instead.

'No, wai' Tessi. Dell, haffa wai'!'

'What's up, Hedwig?' Dell asked.

'Haffa moosh tiny-bumpy firs', haffa be nice.'

'Oh sure.'

To Alexis' delight, Dell and Tessi each gave her still-flat stomach a kiss. 'Okay, there. Now time for snacks.'

* * *

Later, after Alexis had had her fill for the moment - she was already feeling the increase in her appetite - she sat on the edge of her bed with Shane and rubbed her hand over her stomach as she felt her eyes fill up. Already there was so much love for her baby, for her and her husband to become parents.

'Hey, hey, what's with the tears?' Shane came out of the ensuite, saw Alexis weeping as she giggled. 'This a hormone thing?'

'I think it's an I-love-our-family thing.'

'Yeah, they rock. Especially the kids. I heard Dell and Carey muttering in their way about giving RJ an uncle-to-be party.'

'Oh man, they are so sweet.'

There was a knock on the door, and Shane opened it to see Lanie on the other side. 'Hey mama,' she said with a wide grin. 'Come on downstairs, we got somethign for you.'

Lanie looped an arm around Alexis' waist; the mother-to-be saw she'd assembled all the other women in the kitchen and there was a shiny purple bag on the table. 'Just a little something to celebrate the happy news.'

Alexis picked it up, pulled out the tissue paper. Her waterworks started up again when she saw the little white onsie that read 'Medical Student Weaver' in bright blue on the chest.

'That's so sweet.' The tears were full-on now, as Alexis went around and hugged her friends, leaving Shane feeling a little baffled.

'Lex?'

'It's just the hormones, Shane,' Beckett told him with a wink. 'Get used to it, pal.'


	13. CheckIns: 8 Weeks, 2 Days

On Tuesday morning, Shane woke early to the sound of Alexis mumbling in her sleep. It was early but he knew she hadn't had a very restful night; Shane couldn't really blame her about being nervous. Today they were going to Harvey's office to go over Alexis' health and her new care needs to grow a healthy baby.

Shane was still floating a little as he watched his wife sleep, the way her lips made a little popping noise as she exhaled, the way she fisted both hands by her head. All Shane could think was, will the baby sleep like that too, just like his or her beautiful mother? Or will he sleep like his old man, sprawled like a starfish unless he was sharing the space with someone?

When Shane heard Alexis sigh pleasurably in her sleep and open her eyes slowly, he was there and met her with a grin.

'Morning Mama.'

'Mumum.'

'What?'

'Mumum,' she told him sleepily. 'I'll be Mumum, just like RJ and Jojo use on Mom.'

'Ah, so we'll be Mumum and Papa.'

'Papa.' Alexis shifted a little, smiled at her husband as the fog of fatigue cleared. 'I like that. No-one else in our family is a papa. But what would that make my dad and Miss Agnes and Poppy Jim?'

'Well, I think Miss and Poppy Jim will still be Miss Agnes and Poppy Jim, but the others, we can talk about with them because we want them to feel loved but not old.'

'No. Our kids will have young and awesome grandparents.'

'Wow. Kate Beckett a grandmother. Oh, the boys are gonna have fun with that one,' Shane snickered, then went still went Alexis kicked back the covers and sprinted for the bathroom.

Alexis crouched in front of the toilet, holding her stomach with one hand and holding back her hair with the other. She waited for the avalanche of disgusting-ness, but nothing happened. She waited a little and to her relief the nausea passed which made her smile a little bit. It seemed as though the worst of the morning sickness was starting to let up. She still had to be careful, she knew but at least now she could consume her breakfast without fear of seeing it in reverse.

'Lex, sweetie, you feeling okay?' Shane appeared at the doorway of the bathroom, ready to spring to action

'Yeah, I'm not sick, just nauseous,' she replied.

'Good, because we're going to have a nice healthy breakfast before we go to the doctor's today.'

'Does it include chicken salad?'

Shane laughed; apparently chicken salad was Alexis' number one craving in the early stages of her pregnancy. 'Lunchtime can right now you're getting oatmeal.'

'With bacon?'

'With cheese on toast.'

Alexis pouted. 'You're no fun this morning.'

'You can have a chicken-bacon salad sandwich for lunch, with salad and fries and whatever other disgusting concotions your pregnant brain has dreamed up for your taste buds.' Shane wrapped his arms around his wife, kissed her. 'I love you and our little one, and I want both of you to be good and healthy.'

'I know, I know, but...oh dear.'

Alexis whirled away and this time she really did vomit as the nausea wouldn't be quelled. 'Okay,' she told him after she'd finished emptying her stomach. 'No chicken salad for breakfast.'

* * *

Shane stood in one of the examination rooms of Jim Harvey's office space directly across the street from Saint Vincent's hospital. He studied the picture of the little baby foetus and wrinkled his nose. He prefered to think, at least outside of the sonograms, that his son or daughter was a very very tiny person and not what appeared to be a mutant fish-frog hybrid.

'Alexis, I have to say, I think our baby is cuter than this model,' he told her, turning to see where Alexis was stretched on her back on the exam table; she was already sporting the thin hospital gown. 'I think this one was Photoshopped.'

'You could always go the insane Tom Cruise route and buy a sonogram machine so we'll have candid at-home sonogram photos,' she teased him.

'That's beyond weird and quirky that is square in the looney-tunes category.'

'Shane.' Alexis beckoned him closer, not unlike Jojo would, he thought, and he moved so he was standing by her head. 'I may or may not wet myself.'

'Why is that?'

'Because I've heard everyone of our female friends say that the gel for the sonogram machine is very very cold and I was told to have a full bladder coming into this appointment. I'm giving you fair warning.'

'I've been warned.'

Shane kissed her forehead as the door swung open and Harvey, jovial as ever, was there with Andrea who dragged in the sonogram equipment.

'Good morning Weaver family, how's the mama to be feeling today?'

'I wanna pee,' Alexis replied bluntly and Harvey laughed.

'Soon. We'll do that part first, okay?'

'Okay.'

Andrea set up the machine, dabbed on the blue gel as gently as she could which made Alexis hiss through her teeth. 'I know, sweetie, not cool, huh?'

'Nuh-uh.' Alexis shook her head, then forgot her discomfort when Andrea turned on the screen; her fingers threaded through Shane's as they saw the tiny little mouse shape with its flickering heart-beat on the screen. 'Hello tiny, I can't wait to meet you soon.'

'How soon is soon?' Shane asked Harvey, who pressed the machien's buttons, made notes in Alexis' chart.

'From the looks of this and based on the first day of Alexis' last period, I would say about September fifteenth.'

'Back to school birthday party, I dig it.'

'I'll print you a copy, I'm sure the auntie and uncle to be will want to have their own too,' Harvey chuckled, remembering how insistent RJ was at being kept apprised of Beckett's progress when she'd been pregnant the second time. 'Okay bathroom break, then we'll do the rest.'

Upon Alexis' return from the head Harvey weighed her and measured her blood pressure, informed the happy couple Alexis would do well to gain roughly twenty-five to thirty pounds to ensure the baby would be born safely since Alexis was such a slender build.

'I can also put you in touch with Nicole Philips-Zubari, she is an excellent nutritionist if that is a concern,' Harvey added, and Shane chuckled.

'Meredeth Esposito will be cooking for us.'

'Oh, then you'll be fine.'


	14. Helpers

On Friday afternoon, after a few days of having had time to adjust to her new appetite and dietary needs, Alexis saved her work on her computer and back-up server, packed up the files she wanted to take home. Luis Gonsales' most recent parole visit made her fear he might be tempted to go back to his old habits. She could see him getting stronger, and did not want to see him slide back.

'It's a good feeling, isn't it baby,' she murmured, rubbing her belly, 'when you can help someone out who really needs it.'

The phone on her desk rang and she picked it up. 'Doctor Weaver.'

'There's a Missus Esposito here to see you and she brought company,' Prue the receptionist informed her.

'Marvelous.'

'Do you need me to clear your afternoon?'

'No, it's my short day today, Prue, they are my lunch dates. Tell them I'm on my way out now.'

Alexis giggled, wondered what combination of company Meredeth had with her. It wouldn't be Tessi or the twins, since they were in school, so Max, certainly, maybe Nessa and Heddie?

She got her answer when she reached the foyer of the clinic; to her surprise Meredeth was there with her Fab Four. Tessi was reading a brochure on bullying, with Leo and Trini looking around at the pictures on the walls while Max held fast to his mother's hand.

'Hello everyone!'

The children all looked up and smiled, came over to give Alexis hugs. 'No suh-kishin' the bumpy,' Max told her, giving her tummy a little pat. 'We can' have it going bump and hurtin' 'self.'

'Exactly right, Max,' Leo agreed, 'but remember what Mami and Daddy said?'

'Ummm, al-ways hol' hands when we cuh-rossin' the road?'

'Besides that,' Trini giggled.

'Oh! Mamis tummies made to be puh-ro-tec-tiff?'

'That's right, Professor Max!' Tessi gave her youngest brother a high-five. 'See, everyone's bodies have layers of muscles and fats and other stuff to keep their insides safe and when a lady has a baby growing in there, it has all those layers of stuff to protect it.'

'Ess-ack-lee,' Max nodded, and pushed his glasses up his nose, tapped his temple with his index finger. 'I'm a puh-ro-fess-ah, I'm suh-mart be-cause I lissen-a my big sisuh-ter.'

'And where'd you learn that Tessi?' Meredeth asked as she took Alexis bag for her, herded the chattering magpies out of the clinic to the brisk and warming March air.

'From listening to Lindsay and Andrea and Sloanie,' Tessi replied matter-of-factly, keeping a grip on Max's hand. 'They know lots about babies, just like you, Mami.'

'All well and good but aren't some of you supposed to be in school today?' Alexis asked as they headed for the subway to Chelsea.

'The teachers have meetings all day so we get to be home to help Mami bake you and your mini-bumpy treats,' Leo explained. 'They get to learn to be better teachers and we're gonna make lots of good healthy foods for your body so the baby grows up good and strong.'

'No sissy-pants in our family, no-no-no,' Max chirped, making Alexis laugh the entire time back to West Twenty-Fifth Street. They were greeted at the door by Tortuga, already growing into her feet and her voice as she sent up happy woofs her family was home. She sported a fluorescent blue collar decorated with equally neon yellow lightning bolts.

'Missy Tortuga got a new collar from Mami, just because,' Tessi said proudly, hugging her dog close. 'How's Mami's baby, huh, you keeping our castle safe?'

Tortuga responded by giving Tessi a big kiss on her cheek before moving over to Alexis and sniffing right at her belly under her navel. She gave a little growl of approval then trotted off to follow the children into the kitchen to scout for crumbs.

'Funny little thing,' Meredeth shook her head. 'I remember Artie doing that to Jenny when she was pregnant with Dell, he was so weirded out by the concept of a preggo belly.'

'Mami we need our aprons. Do we have a guest apron for Alexis?' Trini asked as she went to the kitchen sink to wash her hands.

'Alexis is going to be watching and keeping me company, Trini,' Meredeth replied, going to the cupboard to find the children's aprons each with their own unique design. 'She worked all day and it takes a lot of energy to grow a baby.'

'You grew me and my twin at the same time,' Leo pointed out, tying on his 'I'm a Be-Leaf-Er' apron from Mallory. 'You were twice as busy, and you had to look after little Tessi too.'

'I was a big help,' Tessi said regally, going to the fridge to get out various ingredients. 'What are we doing first, Mami?'

'Okay, here's how it is going to go.' Meredeth clapped her hands once and to Alexis' amazement all four children stopped what they were doing and watched their mother. 'Trini and Max, you guys are on baking duty so you are going to measure out the dry ingredients for the oatmeal cookies and granola bars. Tessi, I need you helping me on veggies for chilli and hot mess.'

'What about me, Mami?' Leo asked sweetly.

'Leo, I need you keep track of all the stuff we use. You remember where the list is on my phone?'

'Yes, Mami, I got it!'

Leo raced off to find Merdeth's iPhone, and Alexis quirked an eyebrow as Meredeth tok out pots and pans. 'Why doesn't he get to do anything hands on?'

'Just wait for it.'

Twenty minutes later, as Meredeth had ground turkey browning in a pan along with a stock-pot of red-sauce Alexis stood by watching as the ingredients went in. Shane was a good cook and she knew he'd be open to suggestions about keeping his pregnant wife happy. She was about to dip in a spoon when she saw Leo come up between her and Meredeth and start talking.

'So, we've just gotten a bunch of stuff together for making cookies, and granola bars, and Mami's got her spaghetti sauce going because she is going to make some delicious. Do you like soup?'

'Leo what are you doing?' Meredeth asked him absently, and Leo gave his mother a withering stare.

'I'm telling the baby what's going on, Mami! It has very little ears and it's underneath all those body-parts layers, like Tessi said, so I gotta be nearby so it'll hear me,' he explained, then looked up at Alexis. 'Sheesh. She had four babies, you'd think Mami knows these things.'


	15. Ideas

'Shane?'

'Yeah.'

'Focus.'

Shane shook his head as he stared at the body in the hotel room, brought himself back into the crime scene. 'Sorry Detective Beckett.'

Beckett couldn't help but grin at him; he'd been starry eyed for two weeks now over Alexis' pregnancy and though she'd never admit it, she was just as excited at the prospect of being an omi as Shane was at being a daddy. 'Give us the bullet, Doctor.'

'Without adding any baby talk,' Esposito added teasingly; Shane flipped him off discreetly and cleared his throat.

'Victim's name is Hector Marguilies, aged forty-six and lives in Washington Heights according to his address.' Shane crouched by the body still gently swaying in the stone-cold bathwater of the modest Turtle-Bay hotel. 'Cause of death is undetermined at this time, as is time of death.'

'That's not helpful, bro,' Esposito told him and Shane sneered.

'Neither is pointing it out, bro. You know water always screws with body temp so I can't get you a time of death until I get him checked into my hotel.'

'Bla bla bla.'

'Mature, Detective, you teach that one to your kids?'

'Is your kid gonna pop out a little smart-ass like you too?'

'Boys, behave or you're both grounded,' Beckett said so smoothly, Esposito instinctively wanted to point at Shane and say he started it; he caught himself just in time, so instead he left to go speak to Ryan about the witnesses who discovered the body.

Alone with her son in law now, Beckett winked at him as he yawned again. 'He's cranky because he didn't get laid after going to see the screening of _Magic Mike_. Mere has a movie-crush on Big Joe Manganiello and when she watches _Magic Mike it _usually means Javi gets lucky.'

'How-'

'I've known him long enough to know the signs. Plus Meredeth borrowed a tampon from me at the theatre on our double date.'

'Overshare,' Shane replied without hesitation, then waved in his assistants. 'I'll get him back to the morgue, let you know as soon as I can what the deal is.'

'Thanks.'

Shane followed the body down to the OCME van, tried not to yawn too much on the ride to the morgue. He'd been up the night before with Alexis as she'd been hit once more with baby sickness; it felt a little weird to call it morning sickness since she was getting whacked by it hardest before bedtime. It made Shane feel slightly less than useless, mostly because he knew there was nothing to do except rub her back, make her tea, and ride it out with her. He wanted this part of the pregnancy to be done - he wanted the fun part now so that he would have real reasons to blush and brag to Ryan and Esposito when they gave him hell. Shit, he already had the first comeback prepared and just needed a time to actually be able to use that.

When the body had been unloaded and transferred to initial processing by one of the lab techs, Shane headed into the staff common lounge where he found the droid he was looking for pouring over the selections in the vending machine.

'Lanie, I have a question for you.'

'One minute, sweetness,' was her reply as she stared at her options. 'Do I want coconut chocolate or sponger-toffee chocolate?'

'Lanie-'

'Coconut. It's chewier, which means more calories burned for me.' Lanie popped in the dollar and got her treat, then ripped the wrapper open before turning to Shane. 'What's your question?'

'It's...it's a mommy thing,' he said quietly, and Lanie's eyes went as soft and gooey as her delicious coconut bar.

'Ohhhhh! Are you looking for advice on a surprise for Alexis?'

Shane waited a beat. 'Okay, now I have a few more questions.'

'Start with the original,' Lanie suggested and they sat together at one of the tables; Shane raked his fingers through his hair, tried not to feel embarrassed.

'How long did your morning sickness last?'

'Depends. What kid of mine are you talking about because there are three of them and they were all different.'

'Alexis seems to be fine for most of the day and then right before bedtime, it's like Vomit-Ville.'

'Oh, poor girl. Yeah, that's rough but there are a few things you can try. Ginger-ale is always a good standby, so are scotch mints, or if she doesn't want sugary things, try some essential oils in a humidifier in the room. I really like citrus and eucalyptus for Violet and she gave me the worst morning sickness of the three.'

'All good ideas. I just...' Shane trailed off, sighed. 'I don't want her to feel like I'm trying to fix it up so that I'm shutting her up. Every time she's sick she keeps apologizing to me for keeping me awake.'

'Remind her that you two are in this together and she will just have to get used to you standing by her.'

'She knows I'm always there for her-'

'Yes, but women tend to think our hubbies only want the fun parts, and will just say 'wow honey you're so brave' when the scary parts come around. That's how we know we have the right one, the one who says like hell I'm going back to bed and leaving you on your own.' Lanie winked at him. 'You're the right one for Alexis, Shane. None of us saw that one coming seven years ago, but that's the funny thing about life.'

'Wow, this is suddenly very philosophical. Tell me more about this surprise thing I should be doing for Alexis.'

Lanie laughed again, watched him finally open up the packet of Twix bars; he liked Twix bars she noted and would make mention of that to the guys planning their own little surprise for the daddy to be. 'You should plan a date night for just the two of you. Someplace fancy you know she will like, then a nice romantic stroll through Central Park, maybe drinks at Marty and Teeny's, then when you take her home-'

'No sex just yet Lanie, she still feels crumby.'

'You might be surprised, but if she says no, there's no reason you can't give her a nice intimate massage with an orgasm or two.'

'No reason,' Shane echoed, and Lanie could see his wheels turning, the sugar and the ideas perking his energy back up.

'Alright, I've got some labs to run, but if you ever need to talk, you know where to find me.'


	16. Gestures: 10 Weeks, 4 days

'Come on, Willis, we've been over this.'

'I know, but-'

'No buts.'

Alexis shifted in her chair and studied her patient. Willis McDonald was fifteen, thought he was tough; Alexis wondered how many tough guys in his former crew of juvenile delinquents cried in their first session of therapy. 'Willis, what are you afraid of happening when you go back to school next week?'

'I'm afraid...' The teenager trailed off, sighed heavily. 'I'm afraid the other kids are gonna look at me and go, that's the criminal, you can't trust him.'

'Why do you think that?'

'Because...because I'm afraid they'll do that and I'll fall in with kids who are like the old me.' Willis poked at the arm of his chair, sighed. 'I did a stupid thing, because I thought no one cared, that my dad and my stepmom would only notice me if I did something really really bad.'

'Yes you did a stupid thing, Willis. You believed that your parents didn't see you.'

'Is this a shrink trick?'

'No, it's the truth. You believed they didn't see you, and you were right to a certain extent, because they didn't see you in pain, they saw you doing things they never thought you'd do, like trying to steal that car.' Alexis shifted in her seat once more, felt the burning need to pee. She stood up, went to her desk to find a pad and a pen which she put in his hands. 'Willis I am going to excuse myself to the bathroom and I want you to tell me exactly what you thought about in my absence.'

'Okay.'

Alexis bolted for her bathroom, and nearly wept with relief when she dropped her behidn on the toilet and let fly. 'Oh, yes,' she sighed to herself, 'oh God that feels so much better.'

She washed her hands and returned, and when she returned she saw Willis scribbling away on the pad. Saying nothing, Alexis made notes in his file on her desk, returned to her chair across from him. 'Alright, Willis, what's got you so occupied?'

'Comebacks to the kids if they try to label me.'

'Label you.' Interesting choice of words, Alexis thought.

'Yeah. I learned a lot about that in juvie, and how they only saw what they wanted to see. I'm more than just a number on a jumpsuit, so I'll have labels for them too.'

'Share it with me.'

Willis said nothing for the moment just handed over the pad which Alexis read - _you call me a criminal? Does that mean since you're a cheerleader, you're screwing the football captain and putting down the smart girls because you don't think they're pretty? Or is that just what I've decided you are the same way you decided who I am? _

'This is good, Willis. This is really good,' she told him, feeling the pride of getting through to a patient. 'Our next session will be on the day you start back. Your homework is to tell me what you think the day will be like and what it is actually like.'

'Like when I saw you the day I got released from the clink?'

'Yes,' Alexis laughed; her watched beeped once, and she stood up. 'In fact, go home and start now. Our hour is up.'

'Cool.'

Willis picked up his bag, looked at her as he grabbed for the doorknob. 'You know, you're pretty cool for a shrink, Doctor Weaver.'

'Thank you.'

Alexis stood, stretched before closing the door behind her last patient of the day and sighing. Tuesdays were always a long day but a long Tuesday meant being able to leave early on Fridays. She smacked her lips together and thought about getting a pita on the way home. Shane was on days, eight to six so he'd be home already, and he'd probably already have eaten. That meant she could indulge her latest craving and getting a pita stuffed to bursting with gyros, feta cheese and so many vegetables her colon would be clean as fresh cotton.

She was finishing writing her session notes when her cellphone rang, and she grinned when she saw the flashing label of 'Home' on the Caller-ID screen. 'Hey honey,' she answered brightly. 'You're home on time!'

'Yes, with a very important message for you.'

'Oh?'

'Don't eat heavy on your way home. Get like a soft unsalted pretzel or something, or some fruit from the guy by your subway stop.'

'But I want a pita,' Alexis pouted as she packed up her bags for the night. 'I was dreaming about one since lunchtime.'

'Fine, then the surprise dinner I have is going to go to waste.'

'Surprise dinner? What is it?'

'Oh, sweetie,' Shane laughed, 'If I told you and you didn't like it, you'd ruin my nice gesture.'

'Okay, okay, I won't do that. I've been awful lately, so that's the least I can do.'

'I don't recall you being awful. Pregnant and adjusting to your body's new needs, absolutely, but not awful.'

'Aren't you sweet?' Though she knew he couldn't see it, Alexis still made a cutesy pouty-face. 'Okay, I'll be home soon. Love you.'

'Love you too.'

A subway ride and short walk later Alexis was unlocking the front door of home and stepped into a southern kitchen. Or at least she thought she did from the heavenly aromas on the air. She looked around and felt her tear-ducts spring into action when she saw the space. Shane had cleaned, vacuumed and dusted for her, and had indeed made dinner. He'd used one of their Chanukah silver and blue tablecloths to cover their everyday kitchen table. He'd bought her flowers - fire-engine red asters - and put them in a glass vase in the middle of the table; the vase was surrounded with dinner-for-two sized plates and bowls of food - corn bread, baked crispy chicken, mashed potatoes, an assortment of veggies, and a pitcher of cranberry juice masquerading as red wine.

'Hey!'

Shane came out of the bedroom wearing a dress-shirt, and he rolled back the cuffs as he saw Alexis staring at the table; she looked up at him when she saw him there.

'What's all this?'

'Stay-in date night. A nice fancy dinner, dancing in our private club and then some sensual massage.'

'Oh wow.' Alexis crossed to him, caught his face in her hands. 'Shane, if dinner tastes as yummy as it smells, you are getting more than a massage tonight.'


	17. Dances

They dug into their meal with gusto; Shane was glad to see Alexis eating with such relish and without the worry that she was going to throw it all up later that night.

'Shane?' Alexis said, spearing a bite of steamed asparagus on her fork.

'Yes Alexis.'

'I'm going to apologize in advance if I sick this all back up.'

'Alexis?' Shane replied in the same tone of voice as he stabbed a spear of asparagus.

'Yes Shane.'

'Stop apologizing to me all the time, it's getting a tad annoying.'

'Why?' Alexis reached for the bowl of mashed potatoes, added a second small scoop; they were done with garlic and some kind of onion-y seasoning and her preggo taste-bud wanted more. 'I'm not the first woman in the world to get pregnant, you know. Plenty of other women have had babies and didn't have such a supportive hubby by their side.'

'Exactly. I'm there because I want to be there, because I don't like seeing you sick or upset so if holding back your hair while you puke is the only thing I can do in that moment, I'll be a champ at it.'

Alexis said nothing, just pouted at her potatoes; she didn't like being a demanding clingy wife but she liked even less when she had to be reminded it was okay to let someone take care of her. Especially when the someone doing both the reminding and caring was her husband. 'Okay, sweetie, I'm sorry for being so stubborn.'

'I bet the baby comes out with a rock-hard head just like his or her mama,' Shane winked, nudging the plate of chicken towards her. 'Eat up, if you're hungry Lex.'

'Thank you.' Alexis took one piece of the chicken and skipped the fork; she turned it into fingerfood right there. 'It's like ever since we found out I can't eat enough chicken.'

'Well the nutrition books from Andrea and Meredeth said chicken and turkey are good meats for you because they are nice and lean, low fat high protein, that kind of thing.'

Now her smile turned gooey, even as she had two cheeks stuffed full of delicious chicken. 'What else do the books say, Shane?'

'That you should steer clear of high-acid juices while you have morning sickness, and that you should get lots of iron and fibre, so oatmeal and berries for breakfast you can't go wrong and-'

Shane was cut off when Alexis rose and rounded the table; she took his face in her hands and kissed him, slow and deep. His arms came around her and he sighed into it. 'Wow, what's that for?'

'A preview to dessert.'

'Ohhhh.' Shane groaned, ran his hand sup and down her sides, over her belly. He couldn't wait to see it get bigger and rounder. 'Then maybe we should skip my food dessert and go right to sexy-times dessert.'

'What kind of food dessert?'

'Caramel and brownie frozen yogurt.'

Alexis kissed him one more time. 'Never thought I'd say this while not on my period but sex can wait.'

'In a moment. You're not the only one who can give good preview.'

Shane dusted his hands off, rose from his spot at the kitchen table. He went into the living room and put on a CD he knew would send Alexis to a happy place - it was the home-made live album of the houseband at their favourite restaurant in Jamaica, from when they'd taken their little mini break during the hell of wedding planning. He held out his hand to her, drew her close, and they swayed together in their living room to the strains of steel drums and island percussion.

Alexis let her temple rest against his shoulders and gave a contented little sigh. 'Now this, you are really good at this.'

'Seducing you?'

'That, but just knowing what I need without even me knowing it.'

'You're the same, Alexis.' Shane gave her a little twirl so she spooned against him and he culd run their joined hands over her belly. 'God, Lex, you've got a baby in there. A little tiny itsty-bitsy bit of me and a whole lotta you.'

'Lots of both of us. Your skin and my hair. We both have blue eyes so that's a given, I bet,' she told him.

'What do you think of the name Michael,' Shane asked her, 'or Gabriel?'

'I like them but not for our baby. If it's a boy I don't want him called Little Mikey and Gabe is just asking for teasing.'

'Yeah, I guess so.'

Alexis took his hand, moved the one on her hip up between her breasts, let him pop a few buttons on her blouse so she could feel the touch of his bare fingertips on her soft skin. It had become so sensitive to his touch in the last few days which Alexis attributed to the whole second-trimester hormonal wackiness' about to make an appearance. Not that she was complaining right now; she knew Shane would get a charge out of how ready she was when they finally got around to that second dessert.

'Shane,' she sighed, 'can we have ice cream later?'

'No, my darling, we'll have it now.' Shane kissed her temple, then murmured in her ear, 'the better to draw...out...your...pleasure.'

'Oh, God.' Alexis swore she felt her eyes cross as her husband moved away from her. She blinked, calculated the distance. In three short strides she was behind him, grabbing his hips and spinning him around so he was against the fridge. 'Listen, you. I'm pregnant, and mama gets what mama wants. Mama wants her man, right here and right now.'

'Lex,' Shane laughed, then saw the devilish gleam in her eyes. He looked around, saw the open space of the kitchen floor. 'Right here?'

'Right now.'

* * *

The next morning, Alexis woke in Shane's arms; she yawned and stretched a little, then blinked. She tried to focus her brain, and when she realized what time it was, she gave her husband's arm a pat.

'Shane.'

'Baby, it's too early, you've got a toy you can use if you're that horny,' he moaned.

'Not that, it's morning!'

'Yes it is.'

'I didn't throw up last night! I made it through the night!'

Shane's eyes popped open and he grinned to match Alexis'. 'Hey, that's awesome Lex!'

'Damn right it is.' Alexis rubbed her hand over her belly. 'Hey in there, thanks for taking it easy on Mumum.'


	18. Poutfaces

Alexis sighed as she washed her hair, shifted her weight from foot to foot. She and Shane had a doctor's appointment this morning but all she could think about was how alive her body felt. Everywhere she touched on her skin felt tingly and sensitive, especially on her breasts and nipples. Alexis had been rubbing soap over her body and nearly felt like she was in the throes of passion with her man when she'd done her usual check-for-lumps in the routine of showering. It had made the heat pool between her thighs in a way she felt only when Shane put his hands on her.

She looked down at her body and smiled a little bit. The curve of her stomach was becoming a single fluid line, but she still felt none of those little flutterings or stirrings yet which made her a little cranky. Then she'd brush her hands over her body and she could barely remember her own name.

Leaning her back against the tiled wall, Alexis slipped one hand between her thighs and wasn't surprised to find herself ready for her mate. But Shane had already showered before her to let her sleep a little longer since she wasn't up at night puking her brains out anymore. With careful movements and her other hand over her mouth to keep her moans of pleasure to herself, she stroked her fingers back and forth until the glorious convulsion hit her and she felt the release through her system like she was shedding a layer of old, too-tight skin.

'Oh, that feels so much better.'

'Alexis?'

She froze, blinked, then stuck her head around the shower curtain to see Shane standing there in his office clothes, toothbrush naked of paste as he watched her. 'Yes?'

'Were you just...' Shane trailed off as he tried to phrase it so he would pass out if the blood in his head ran straight into his crotch. 'You took matters into your own hands, didn't you?'

'I did,' Alexis nodded, and Shane gave a little shiver.

'Hot. Selfish, but hot.'

'How is that selfish?' She wrinkled her brow at him.

'Because you got to have all the fun.'

'Shane, trust me, my hormones are going to start going more than a little crazy. You will not say that when you've come home after a double and I'm lying naked on my pregnant back just waiting for you to-'

'Hold that thought. Weaver,' Shane said when he answered his ringing cellphone. 'Hey, no, I'm not going to work today. Alexis has an early appointment with Harvey. Right, I know I owe you a bagel. I'll have it then. Bye-bye.'

'Ryan?'

'RJ. He bet me a bagel that the fancy dinner I made you a few days ago would stay in your tummy and I thought no way since you'd still had your baby sickness so horribly. After I take you to work, I'm heading to the loft for a day with the bro and sister in law.'

'Isn't RJ in school?'

'It's March break, babe,' Shane replied as she shut off the water. 'He's got the week off, and I know it'll drive Castle crazy to have him and Jojo home when he's got work to do, so I volunteered to be crash-test daddy for the day.'

'Aren't you so sweet.' Alexis zipped back the shower curtain, patted her body down with her towel, gave him a hug from behind which was getting harder to do now. 'In fact, when I'm home from work, you'll be getting a big reward for bein such a great guy.'

She stretched to her tip-toes, caught his earlobe in her teeth and gave him a light nip; she added in a silky whisper, 'And you'll be going back to work very tired.'

* * *

'Thanks again for doing this Shane.'

Castle looked as happy as he did relieved when he answered the door to find his son-in-law on the other side. 'I've got a deadline I cannot miss and the last thing I want is to yell at my kids. You'll know that feeling all too well very soon.'

Shane grinned as Castle called over his shoulder for RJ and Jojo to come get ready for Shane.

'Hi Shane!'

Jojo greeted her big-brother-in-law with a sunny smile, hugged him around the legs. 'How was Alexis' visit to the baby doc-tor? Is the baby getting nice and big?'

'Very,' Shane replied as he returned the hug, hollered for RJ. 'I have a picture to show you later.'

'Why not now?'

'Because we have groceries to buy.'

'Oh, are we makin' fancy thin's for Alexis?' Jojo's eeys shone as she went to find her coat and holler for her other big brother again. 'Are we making her a sur-puh-rise?'

'No, this is just regular foods so she can take her lunch to work and have a healthy breakfast and dinner at home.'

'But she is 'llowed to have a tah-reat once in awhile, right? Like a sheese-burger with bacon and pick-ills?' Jojo asked, blue eyes shining at Shane.

'Of course. She loves a cheeseburgers but no pickles, she likes onions better.' He paused, frowned. 'Where is your brother? He's not usually this slow.'

'He hassa new thingie fo' his Touchy,' Jojo said.

'You mean his iTouch he got for Christmas?'

'Mm-hmm. He found out he can make dinner 'deas on his Touchy and he gets dis-racket by his 'deas.'

Shane watched in fascination as Jojo went to the bottom of the stairs and with impressive lung-power for a four-year-old, she bellowed 'Rishard Shames Cassell! You need-a get you' big buh-rother butt down here righ' now o' Shane says you suh-tayin' here!'

To his utter amazement Shane heard the sound of clamboring feet, and moments later RJ flew down the stairs, apologies all over his face. 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm here! I was making a grocery list for the baby, Shane! See!'

'That's awesome, dude,' he replied when he looked at RJ's little iTouch and saw he'd found the free version of Meredeth and Andrea's beloved 'Mommy Muncher' software. 'Where'd you find that?'

'I was visiting my Trini and we asked her mami and she got it for us.'

'Ah-Shay, come on!' Jojo passed RJ his boots, slapped her hands on her hips. 'All the yummy suh-tuff fo' making Alexis healthy baby tah-reats is gonna be gone!'

Shane looked over at Castle, who was watching the whole scene and grinning. 'If you need me,' the grandfather-to-be said, 'I'll be in my office. Wearing earplugs.'


	19. Shoppers: 12 Weeks, 1 Day

'Okay, crew, what's the deal?'

'Suh-tick to-gedder.'

'And?'

'If something is eye-level or higher on a shelf ask for help to get it.'

Shane arched an eyebrow at RJ and Jojo as they selected a cart at Martindale's, his favourite place to get groceries. 'And?'

'And if we yell or fight no fun stuff later,' RJ added.

'That includes bossing your little sister around, my main man. I'm the bro in charge today, right?'

'You shoo are, Shane!' Jojo nodded, then looked around in wonder in the grocery store. 'Wow, this puh-lace is neat-o!'

'We usually go to Luongo's because it is closer to our house,' RJ explained as they passed the hot deli for the produce section. With a great air of authority he pulled out his iTouch and tapped the screen. 'My special app says that green veggies are best for Alexis.'

'Why Ah-Shay?' Jojo asked, holding onto the cart's basket while Shane stopped by the broccoli.

'Because they have lots of vitamins and Andrea says ruffage makes you poop.'

'Ew! Don't be guh-ross.' She gave him a little poke in the ribs, then craned her neck to see the screen. 'What else she needs?'

'Lots of protein, that's in meat and cheese and milk, and fibre, so whole wheat breads and good cereals.'

'Like Corn-Pops?'

'No, like Mini-Wheats.'

Shane chuckled as he picked out broccoli and asparagus, skipped the cauliflower and turned the cart towards the potatoes and onions. 'You're very knowledgeable, RJ.'

'I'm gonna be an uncle,' RJ replied simply, as if this explained everything, 'I have to know how to look after the bumpy nephew before and after its birthday.'

'No Ah-Shay, it's gonna be a little bumpy girl,' Jojo corrected him. She leaned forward to sniff at the onions and sneezed. 'Ooh, they suh-mell funny when they aren't in the fuh-ryin' pan.'

'Does Alexis like stir-fries with lots of beef and veggies?' RJ asked. 'Carey said he remembers getting to eat a lot of that when Lanie had Finn in her belly.'

'Alexis likes chicken salad,' Shane replied, then froze when Jojo took off. Immediately he whipped the cart around; relief was sweet as honey when he saw her at the lettuce bunker. 'Jojo, come over here.'

'What? You said she likes salad!' Jojo pointed to the heads of Romaine and bok-choy. 'She needs lettuce for a salad!'

'Jojo, over here, now.'

Confused, Jojo looked at him; she didn't like Shane being upset. 'What's wrong, big-buh-ro-in-law Shane?'

'What was the number one rule?'

'Suh-tick to-gedder. But...I'm helping!'

'Johanna Louisa,' Shane told her, and he watched Jojo's eyes fill up. 'Okay, okay, honey, don't cry, I'm not yelling at you.'

'I jus' wanna help,' she whimpered. 'I'm a good girl, I listen to you.'

Shit, Shane thought, he'd have to toughen up if he had a little girl; he was already crouching down and hugging the nearly-sobbing Jojo, melting like butter when she added, 'I can know stuff like RJ too.'

'I know, bumblebee, you just scared me that's all.'

'But...but you're a patha-lo-gist, Shane, you take care of dead people all the time! You don't get scared!'

'Oh believe me I do, and the thought of you wandering away in the grocery store where I can't see you makes me very, very scared,' Shane reassured her, and he fell in love with her a little more when he watched her knuckle away her tears.

'Okay, I'm sorry. I won't run off again. Friends?'

She held up her pursed fingertips and Shane fed the birdies with her, glanced over at RJ, who just shook his head.

'You gotta listen to Shane today, Jojo, he's the grown-up in charge,' he told his sister, not ready to admit that seeing her take off had nearly given him a cardiac arrest; he liked that fancy way of saying 'heart attack' after hearing Tia Lili use it on Rosie more than once.

'I know, I know, I'm sorry my buh-ros.' Jojo gave them each another hug when another horrifying thought struck her. 'Shane, I was bad for you, does this mean no tah-reats for me?'

'Oh, Jojo-'

'Only if you do it again,' RJ jumped in, ready to protective his sister from being left out. 'We could still see you, but you can't do that again and scare us. I mean, Shane.'

Shane caught the little slip of the tongue as RJ put his hand in his sister's and shook it. 'See this? We are glued together until Shane says the magic word.'

'What's the ma-gic word?'

'You have to ask him.'

Jojo looked at Shane. 'Shane, what is the magic word?'

'I'll tell you in the check-out line.'

'Okay.'

True to their word, RJ and Jojo never let go of hands once; RJ even let Jojo push the buttons on his iTouch to tell their brother-in-law what they needed to get for Alexis and Shane - fruits and veggies, cereals, even a little moment in the meat department when Jojo insisted on saying 'buh-less you' to all the turkey and beef Shane selected went smoothly.

'Jojo, are you gonna be a vegetarian like Mallory?' Shane asked her after putting in both turkey breast fillets and ground turkey - both he and Alexis preferred it for their meatballs and tacos.

'No, but it jus' seems nice, is all.' Jojo gave a little shrug, then lifted her hand joined with RJ's to point at a packet of pre-skewered kebabs. 'What are those? These look so fancy and nice!'

'Those are shish-kebabs, Jojo, with salmon and onions and peppers.'

'Maybe we should make those for Alexis for a treat tonight,' RJ suggested. 'That would be a very nice thing to do, especially if she is talking to people who need her help.'

'Ever-ee-one feels better wit' Alexis around, right Shane?' Jojo asked as Shane debated between

'Darn right they do, especially me. Can you two do me a favour?'

RJ gave him the eagle eye. 'What kind of favour?'

'Can you go right over there-' Shane pointed less than five feet away '-and get me a clear plastic bag from the roll?'

'No!'

Jojo shook her head. 'No, we are suh-taying right here,' she added with a little stamp of her foot. 'We are not going out of your sight 'gain.'


	20. Hormones

While Shane wrangled his wife's siblings in the grocery store, Alexis was sitting down to a rare indulgence - lunch with Lindsay on a weekday.

'This was such a good idea, Lindsay, but are you okay to be on your feet so much?' Alexis asked, sitting her still-slim body down at their table while Lindsay's belly seemed to have almost doubled in size already and she was only at six months.

'I'll be starting my reduced hours after Easter and then maternity leave after the May holiday weekend.' Lindsay shifted in her seat, gave her belly a poke. 'You, yeah, you in there, it's Mama. Can you move so you're not using my kidneys as a punching bag?'

Alexis watched in fascination as her friend shifted around and let out a little sigh. 'Better?'

'Yeah, much better. Oh look!'

Lindsay lifted up her top and Alexis giggled when she saw the maternity barbell Lindsay was sporting for her navel ring. The top half was a little Tiffany rattle and the bottom was a pacifier. 'Adam gave it to me after the baby shower at work.'

'That's so cute. I know when this one is born-' Alexis patted her much smaller bumpy-tummy '-Shane is getting another tattoo.'

'You don't sound happy about that,' Lindsay observed as their waiter brought them water and menus.

'No, it just seems a little unfair that I'll get stretch marks and maybe a C-section scar, he get's more ink, which he's used to.

'Hello hormones,' Lindsay giggled and Alexis sniffed.

'Am not.'

'Are-too, are-too.'

'Ladies.' The waiter had, well, waited, to give them the list of the specials. 'Today we are offering a delicious roasted asparagus and farmhouse cheddar soup, our bread is cheddar-garlic, and our lunch special is the pizza margherita with basil olive oil and buffalo mozzarella.'

'Oh, yummy,' Lindsay sighed, rubbing the mountain of her belly. 'Any chance to get that pizza with some kind of meat on it?'

'Of course madam, you may select housemade Italian sausage or crispy pancetta.'

'Pancetta,' Lindsay replied.'

'I'll take the chicken parmigiana with spaghetti bolognaise, and we'll take the family style Cesar salad for antipasto,' Alexis added, smiling as she rubbed her own baby bump. 'This one can't get enough chicken it seems.'

'Mine wants nothing but bread and crunchy foods,' Lindsay giggled. 'Doesn't matter what kind of crunchy foods either. Celery, carrots, low-salt pretzels, kettle cooked chips. I think Jarrad or Eleanor likes the noises.'

'You guys already have a name?' Alexi felt a little shame-faced; she hadn't even talked about when she'd take her maternity leave with her boss yet, or thought of nursery ideas.

'Just bouncing around ideas. Which reminds me, are you and Shane still cool to have me as a houseguest next weekend while the paint finishes drying in the baby's room?'

'Sure.' As if someone had thrown a switch, Alexis felt tears spring to her eyes and she dabbed at them lightly with her napkin.

'Lex, honey, you okay?' Lindsay looked with concern at her friend.

'Yeah, it's just...Shane and I haven't talked a lot about that stuff yet, and you-'

'I am due in the middle of June, girl,' she smiled, knowing her friend didn't want to feel like she was playing catchup. 'You're not due until the end of September, you've got plenty of time to plan things like nurseries and birthplans and all those things.'

'I really hope it doesn't end up like the wedding did, with me going through hell while planning and no-one really understanding it.'

'Oh, no,' Lindsay shook her head. 'Not going to happen, darling. We are all here to love and support you, just like they and you are doing for me. Oh, yummmy.'

The waiter returned with a basket of cheesy garlic bread, hot and fresh from the oven, and for reasons completely unknown to Alexis she felt her libido do a little zinging hum. 'Jesus.' She waved a hand in front of her face. 'I'm feeling all...tingling all of a sudden.'

'Not surprising, sweetie,' Lindsay smiled, taking a slice for herself. 'That waiter is hot stuff. And speaking of hot stuff.'

She set down her bread, dipped into her purse for her ringing phone, and her face lit up like a sun when she saw the caller-ID. 'Hey you. Yes, we're having lunch. Yes, I'm getting my pizza, you jealous? What are you up to? Yeah, we're still on for tonight. Adam's working late tonight, so we'll have plenty of time to play. Alright, I love you too. Go be a genius.'

Lindsay hung up and picked her bread back up; it paused on the way to her mouth when she saw Alexis' stony stare. 'Lex?'

'You've got some balls, young lady,' she all but snarled. 'Does Adam know you have a date tonight without him?'

'Yes, he thinks it's a great idea.'

'A great idea for you to see another man while you're six months pregnant with Adam's baby and still pretty much a newlywed? I was your maid of honour, you-'

'Whoa, whoa, whoa,' Lindsay laughed. 'It's not what you think, Lex. Yes, I do have plans with a man not my wonderful hubby tonight-'

'Lindsay, how could you do that to him!'

'I have plans with my brother, you silly preggo.'

Alexis felt her belly clench in guilt, brow knitting in confusion. 'Brother?'

'Yeah, I told you about him.'

'No you didn't.'

'Yes I did, remember? My youngest brother Noah? He decided to follow my foot-steps and go to an east-coast university of his choice, so Dad kicked him out. He just moved to the city about a month ago, and he's waiting tables at Pookaloo's until he starts at Julliard to study piano and voice in the fall.'

'Brother,' Alexis repeated numbly as she tried to rack her brain to remember when her friend had told her this while Lindsay continued explaining

'It just so happens my day off and his lined up this week, so we're going to see a movie and then go for a pastry at Body's place.' Lindsay pressed her fingertips to her lips to hold in the laugh at Alexis' expression. 'I'm so sorry, sweetie, I didn't realize you still have pregnancy brain.'

'I never thought that was a real thing until I found out I was pregnant, I...oh, Lindsay, I'm so sorry, you know I'd never believe-'

'I know, it's understandable.' Lindsay, nudged the bread basket towards Alexis. 'Still think those hormones are under control?'


	21. Lovers I

_Hello all! Glad to see both newbies and the usual suspects in love with this story! This ch is a hot one so enjoy with a cool drink!_

* * *

'Okay, groceries are stowed now time to make my super-hot baby mama a delicious healthy dinner.'

Shane slapped his back-pockets rhythmically while he examined the recipe RJ had emailed him; the boy had been thrilled when his father had said he could use the family email address to send one of the recipes he'd picked out from his Mommy-Muncher app to make for Alexis. He was in the middle of finding the rest of the ingredients for crispy baked fish and chips when he heard the door buzzer go off. 'Hello?'

'Hey, honey, I'm home and I have full hands.'

'Nothing heavy I hope.'

'No, light and many.'

'Okay.'

Shane pushed the button to let her in, wondering what the hell Alexis could have purchased that was 'many' and 'light.' A few moments later he heard the keys in the door; Shane glanced over his shoulder as he saw Alexis come in with a few bags from a few different stores. 'Hey, honey, no wonder you're late tonight, you've been cleaning out Lower Manhattan.'

'Just a few mommy pampering things Lindsay insisted I couldn't live with out.' Alexis eyed up his work in the kitchen. 'You don't have anything that will spoil here, do you?'

'No?'

'Good.' She crooked her finger at him. 'Come with me.'

Like a good man and hubby Shane followed her into the bedroom where he watched her put the bags of stuff on a chair by their closet; she held up a bag from a place called Sizzling Stork on the first knuckle of her index finger.

'This is the main reason I dragged you out of the kitchen,' Alexis told him, giving the bag a little shake. 'Wanna see what I bought?'

'Yes, yes I do.'

'Great. Get naked and I'll be back in five minutes.'

Alexis zipped out of their bedroom and into the bedroom, leaving Shane to tidy up. Since he had a feeling he knew he was about to get very, very lucky, he simply scooped it all up and dropped it on the catch-all chair beside the closet. He stripped off his pants and shirt, his watch and socks so he was down to his tattoos and boxers. He smoothed down their bed sheets and stretched on his back on top, then sat up straight when Alexis came back in.

'Wow,' he breathed. 'You look amazing, Alexis.'

Alexis smiled; she'd picked out pearl-grey since it flatter her hair best, in a silk-chiffon baby-doll that split into a fly-away just beneath her bust. SHe'd skipped the matching panties because she knew how revved up Shane got when it was just her underneath her nighties. She twined a strand of her hair around her finger and grinned seductively. 'You like it?'

'Very, very much.'

Alexis crossed to him, knelt on the bed to kiss him and run her fingers through his thick black hair. 'I love you so much, Shane.'

'I love you right back Alexis.'

Shane ran his hands over her body, tracing his fingertips over her breasts, her nipples through the silk-chiffon; he loved how soft her skin had become since she'd gotten pregnant. Her body was so responsive thanks to the extra hormones now. Shane arched his hips and slipped out of his boxers so he could feel how hot Alexis already was for him, how much further he could go to make her feel good. Twisting them around, he ran his hands up her sides beneath the silken fabric of her lingerie.

'Lex,' he sighed, 'how do you want it first tonight, my love?'

'Your hands first, Shane,' was her breath response. 'I want your touch on me.'

Alexis clsoed her eyes, arched her back as her husband ran his hands down her sides, back up, over the curve of her stomach. His eyes stayed on hers as he slipped down the straps of her baby-doll, tugged the silk-chiffon down just enough to see her breasts. He lowered his mouth to one, flicking his tongue over her nipple; the move had bullets of need zipping through her system, Shane knew this from her strangled cry of a response.

He felt the flood of heat between her thighs, and with his eyes locked on hers Shane slipped his hand down between their bodies so he could stroked her, teasing and torturing her as her hips rose and fell in rhythm she'd set. The little moans of delight, her sighs of pleasure made his blood pump hot for her. Shane watched her face as her body tensed then went limp and he lowered his mouth to hers. His eyes sank shut in desire when she moaned in his ear, 'Now, Shane, now I need you inside me baby. I want you to make me feel good.'

'Of course Lex, how do you want to feel good? From behind or facing me?'

'Facing you.' Alexis put her hand to his cheek, then whispered in his ear, 'I like to kiss you when you have your orgasm, my love.'

Shane closed his eyes as he kissed her back, shuddered. He loved when she made those little comments, because Shane knew even after all this time together that she had no full idea just how much he loved hearing her talk like that to him. He kept his eyes on hers, felt the cradle of her thighs slick and wet already for him; with her hand in his Shane eased inside her then groaned when Alexis thrust her hips up to meet his.

'Jesus, Lex,' he wheezed out, 'Fast or slow.'

'Slow. I want to scream your name long and loud.'

Alexis knew it was the hormones talking, giving her this boldness but since Shane seemed to like it she didn't bother feeling self-conscious. It was hard to feel anythign negative when she had her husband, the love of her life, was inside her and making love to her busy-changing body. She arched her back, finers digging in as he pace it for them slow and languid so that as the glorious tension built in her body, each pass going a little faster and a little faster, Alexis was only able to feel. She rolled them so she was on top and leaned back so Shane go be even deeper inside her.

'I'm so close, Shane, I'm so close, she told him on a breathy moan, 'I want...I...I...oh!'

Shane scraped his thumbs over her rock-hard nipples as Alexis arched once more, then pressed his face between her breasts when she suddenly changed it and her hips moved against his like lightening. 'I'm right there with you Lex,' he replied; when he felt her come a second time, Shane let go his control and let it fly.


	22. Simplicities: 13 Weeks, 3 Days

It was a nice night, Alexis thought as she sat on the couch with her feet on the coffee table. She loved spending time with her family, her friends, but she hadn't realized how busy things had been until she was sitting on her couch on Good Friday spending a nice quiet evening at home with her husband playing video-games and reviewing baby-book readings. Alexis was so proud of Shane, how much reading up he was doing and how much good solid advice he was getting from Ryan and Esposito, Dave and Cam, Gil and the rest of them.

Alexis sat on the couch, rubbing the popped-up bump of her tummy. She'd been doing her reading too and had learned the baby had now grown its fingerprints and was busy working on hair despite the fact the baby was the size of half a banana.

'Hey in there,' she murmured, stroking the roundness of her body. 'I know you're busy and still too small to hear me yet, but Harvey said since I feel like I'm not really pregnant because the morning sickness is gone, talking to you is a good idea. So tonight, let's see what did we do tonight, well, Papa bought dinner for us and we ate it which was very very yummy. Then we had dessert, and now we are going to have some lemonade and play _Lego Pirate of the Caribbean_ one of my favourite video games ever. Who should I be?'

Alexis waited a beat like she was waiting for an answer, and smiled. 'I agree. Tia Dalma's pretty and scary all at once.

'Having some quality mumum-baby time?'

'Oh, look, who is this coming to play,' Alexis told her belly as Shane sat down beside her, placed his hand on the side of her bump. 'It's Papa, isn't it? Yeah, it's Papa, he takes such good care of us.'

'You both mean the world to me.' Shane moved his hand around, smiled. 'Cannot wait for you to be big enough for me to feel you inside there, tiny. But on to serious matters now. Who should I be for _Lego Pirates_, should I be Captain Jack or one of the members of the Black Pearl's crew?'

Like his wife he pretended to wait as though listening for an answer and he gave a brisk nod. 'You're so smart, just like your mumum, I should definitely be Davy Jones.'

'He'll be no match for Tia Dalma,' Alexis warned him, then winced, shifted; her expression had Shane going on red alert.

'Lex, what is it?'

'Just gimme a moment.' Alexis wriggled around a little, then let out a happy little sigh after she let out a fairly substantial fart. 'That's better. I'm getting to the gassy stage. Andrea said she had it really bad, Lanie and Honey-Milk and Sloan, too. Meredeth said she'd also get the hiccups to the point of needing massage therapy.'

'Yeah, Javier told me about that, how a monster burp made her cry because she felt so much better.'

'And yet he still bangs her at every chance he gets.'

'What's that supposed to mean,' Shane asked her, going to the cabinet to select the game disc.

'Just something I have to remind myself of, that even when I feel disgusting and gross, or think I'm an awful bitch or a huge-ass whale of a woman, you will still love me and my body.'

'I know this might be hard to process for you, my sweet little strawberry,' he reminded her, but the bigger you get, the more like a man I feel.'

'Really?' Alexis sat up straight, took her feet off the table to scoot forward on the couch. 'Why is that?'

'Because when you're getting bigger, that means the baby is getting bigger, and seeing my child getting bigger inside my woman, that means I am a healthy and virile man, a sexual being ad, well, it's kinda hard to explain it beyond that if you don't have a penis.'

'I could be growing one inside me right now,' she pointed out to him, and Shane laughed.

'Is it weird that my automatic response to that seems to be the only penis I want inside you is mine?'

'Yes, but equally weird, I find that kinda cute and sweet.'

'Then we'll be two weird little peas in a pod, with our own little baby pea on the way.'

Shane brought over Alexis' controller, pressed a kiss to her tummy. 'Alright baby, go take a nap while Mumum and Papa play.'

'He or she says Papa, I wanna play too!'

'When you're big enough, you can play with Mumum because she rocks at this game.'

They started off with the cannibal escape, mostly because Alexis knew it would make Shane flustered and for some perverse reason, she was enjoying seeing him flustered these days; maybe it was because there was little that seemed to get him in a lap about the baby. She'd never seen anyone about to be a first time daddy so calm. Not that she wanted him to be a basket-case but a little bit of a cute and traditional freakout would be kinda nice to see, just so Alexis could have a little reassurance that she wasn't the only one who was a total bundle of nerves about their impending parenthood.

She sighed rubbed her belly again. 'Papa's getting fussy about not getting up that circle-maze, my darling,' she told the bump. 'It makes him wrinkle up his eyebrows and that makes him look so adorable.'

'You feeling okay? You want a snack or anything?'

'I'm fine, sweetie, really. Though maybe we could take a walk after we're done and get some tacos.'

'Tacos,' Shane repeated, and Alexis nodded.

'My food-truck app on my phone told me that El Camino Taquieria set up shop outside Our Lady of Eternal Grace for when evening mass gets out tonight, which is in-' she checked her watch '-an hour from now. By the time I finish kicking your ass at _Lego Pirates_, and we walk over there, we'll be at the front of the crowd.'

'I don't know if I want you eating street food, Lex, those things are bacteria-traps serving up dirty disgusting-'

'Delicious treats.' Alexis made a little pouty face. 'Baby wants a taco.'

'Alright, alright, we'll get baby a taco, if-' Shane held up a finger, 'I see an A-plus rating from the health and safety commission proudly displayed in their window.'

'Of course they have one,' Alexis scoffed, 'the last thing I'm going to do is hurt our baby. The same cannot be said for your poor Davy Jones.'


	23. Reactions: 14 Weeks

'Mumum.'

'Mmmm, no, RJ, it's too early.'

Beckett rolled to her other side, her nose bumping against Rick's shoulder. Her son was not deterred, though, as was evident when she felt the weight sift in the bed by her back, his fingers grabbing her shoulder and shaking it.

'Mumum, come on, we have to wake up because it is a special baking day today, we can't be late. We are having our special Passover dinner tonight with Give-it Shir and Minor Ham.'

'RJ, again, it's too early.'

'No, it isn't, the clock says it is eight-thirty-eight already.'

At this news, Beckett's eyes flew open. 'Okay, okay, RJ, where's your sister?' she asked, swinging her feet over the side of the bed while RJ backed up.

'Jojo is downstairs tidying up our toys we played with after breakfast.'

'You had breakfast already?'

'Uh-huh, I made us toast and peanut butter, and we had orange juice and some strawberries too.' RJ smiled proudly at his healthy choices - he'd ignored the toaster waffles in the freezer and the super-sugary Corn Pops Jojo absolutely loved - then looked at Castle, still sound asleep. 'Are we letting Daddy sleep more?'

'He was up late with me last night working on our latest case at work.'

'Oh, he's good at that, and he works very hard making sure Jojo stays safe.' RJ frowned a little in thought as he followed Beckett back downstairs. 'Mumum?'

'Yes RJ.'

'How will the baby stay safe when Alexis and Shane go back to work? Who will look after it?'

'Well, Alexis and Shane won't be going back right away, Alexis will take time off from work after the baby comes, and then when she goes back to work, Shane will take time off. The baby will be two whole years old, and then he or she will have a nanny.'

'Like Nanny Natalia spends time with Devon and Nate?'

'Exactly.'

'Maybe, maybe Miss Agnes can help out, since she's almost our other grams.'

'How is she almost your grams?'

'Because she is Poppy Jim's special girl. Meredeth said that her grams, Constance, her special friend was Terrance and he is like a grandfather to Tessi, Leo, Max and my Trini. So, since Miss Agnes and Poppy Jim are special friends, that means Miss Agnes is almost our other grams,' RJ decided; this announcement made Beckett pause as Jojo wandered over from the living room.

'What are we talkin' a-bout?' she asked sweetly. 'Ah-Shay, why you not at suh-chool to-day?'

'Because it is a special day for us to go and meet Alexis' parents-in-law with them at the airport.'

'Oh, yea! They are comin' to-day for the suh-pecial dinner be-cause Shane is Shoo-ish, right?'

'That's right, it is Passover dinner today.'

'And I get to ask the suh-pecial kesh-ins be-cause I am the little one, right?' Jojo looked to her big brother for confirmation; she got a quick thrill of pride when her big brother nodded. She looked around, gave the same kind of concentrated frown as RJ had. 'We gonna make our suh-pecial dessert and cookies?'

'We will, but first we need to make sure our house is nice and clean for dinner tonight.'

'Okay, Mumum, how we gonna help?'

'First you two are going to tidy up your rooms, that means clothes in the hampers and brought down here for laundry time, beds get made, and toys are put away in their bins.'

'Yes, Mumum,' RJ said, winked at Jojo. 'Don't worry little sister, I'll help you make your bed.'

'Guh-rassy big buh-ro.'

With the children taken care of for the moment, Beckett made coffee and mulled over the scene she'd wished with all her might she could witness - seeing the formidable Shir Weaver and the romantic Chaim gasp in delight at the sight of Alexis' pregnant belly. Knowing the high-ranking Mossad possessed a gooey caramel heart when it came to her only child, Beckett could only imagine the joy and delight on her face when she learned she was going to be a grandmother.

She wondered if she would be able to hear the shrieks of delight all the way from LaGuardia.

The house-line phone rang, and as if it had been reading her thoughts Beckett only shook her head when she saw Shane's cellphone number on the Caller-ID. 'Hello, daddy,' she teased him.

'That's papa to you, Kate, and I have two very excited grandparents to be here who want to speak with you.'

There was a shuffling noise, and Beckett grinned when she heard Shir's voice, her accent even thicker in her delight. 'Hello Katsa Weaver, you sound like you're in a good mood.'

'That's Bubbe Weaver to you, Detective Grand-mama!' Shir all but trilled it, and Beckett had to giggle. 'Oh, can you believe it? Our babies are having a baby! Oh, this is just wonderful! We couldn't believe it when we saw Alexis' belly when they greeted us off of the airplane.'

Beckett loved how Shir said airplane, it always sounded like _aero-plane_. 'Well, we've known since back in Feburary, but we heard from Shane you wanted to be told in person.'

'Yes, of course we did! We didn't want to be deprived of getting to hug and kiss our daughter-in-law when we hear this joyous news! What?' There was a quick exchange in Hebrew, followed by another one in Dutch, and rounded out with Shir's impatient sigh. 'Katie-girl, my husband wants a word with you.'

There was another shuffle on the line and this time it was Chaim's voice that sounded like he'd just won the lottery. 'Katie-Lou, Katie-Lou, do you know what our children told us together today?'

'Yes, they are making monkeys out of all of us aren't that?'

'No, not mon-kees,' he replied, emphasizing each syllable, 'grandparents! Oh, you know we will be here for the birth, yes?'

'Of course.'

'Good, good, but right now, we are going out for breakfast.'

'Breakfast?'

'Yes, breakfast to celebrate this news together as a family. Get your little ones together and we are going to have pancakes and waffles and bacon and things good Jews have no right eating on Passover.'

'Okay good.'

'Shane will text you the restaurant address. See you soon!'

Beckett hung up the phone, and laughed as she went to the bottom of the stairs and called up, 'RJ? Jojo? How do you feel about pancakes with Chaim and Shir?'


	24. Supporters I

Two days after the delightful Passover dinner with her in-laws, Alexis was having lunch at her desk to catch up on writing up her case notes when her office desk-phone rang. She pressed the speaker phone button as she rubbed at her belly.

'Doctor Weaver.'

'Still sounds so sweet hearing you as Doctor Weaver.'

'Good afternoon, Doctor Parrish-Robbins, to what do I owe the honour?'

'Mamas' night tonight at my place. You, me, Sloan and Andrea.'

'That's not all the mamas in our family though,' Alexis pointed out to her. 'Shouldn't there be like Meredeth and Honey-Milk and...and others?'

'True but we all thought this way, smaller groups of different perspectives and everything, you might feel a little less overwhelmed since you're gonna be the last first-time mama of all of us.'

'That's so sweet.' Alexis pressed the tips of her fingers to her eyes. 'Sorry, stupid hormones.'

'Hey, that's okay baby girl.' Lanie smiled softly even though she knew Alexis couldn't see it. 'That's the point of our mamas group, we've all been through it so we want to offer our wisdom and advice to you. So when you are off work, don't go home come straight to my place.'

'What about supper? My appetite won't be able handle going so long without eating-'

'We're having dinner here together, so- Finn! No, we can't play that right now, sweetie,' Lanie called out to her son, then focused on Alexis once more. 'Gotta run, Finn wants to play Pass the Trash and that's too complicated to get out right now since we have guests coming in two hours.'

'Okay, I'll see you soon.'

True to her word, when Alexis was off work, she sent Shane a text telling him she was going to Lanie's for girls night and he replied with a loving 'I know'; Lanie had already told him after calling Alexis. She knocked on Lanie's door and was greeted with the siren song of tomato and cheese.

'Oh, Lanie you know your audience,' she laughed; Alexis' cravings had finally grown out of chicken salad to want pizza and vegetables all the damn time. 'Homemade?'

'Crust, sauce, the whole works. Come on in.'

Lanie took her friends coat while Alexis saw Sloan and Andrea had already arrived and were arranging different pictures and magazines on the coffee tables. There was a plate of crisp veggie-sticks along with a pitcher of what looked like thick orange milk on the table.

'Want a Creamsicle shake?'

'Hey mama!' Andrea left the magazines alone, came over to give Alexis a hug, and a tummy-rub. 'How's the bump feeling?'

'Good, we go for our next appointment to Harvey in about two weeks.'

'That's good. I like that one because it was a nice reminder there was a baby in there, that I wasn't just getting fat.'

Alexis arched an eyebrow. 'You got that too?'

'Oh, yeah, and as I recall I got it worse according to Harvey than some of his other patients because I learned I was pregnant so early on and my morning sickness only last until about nine weeks. I just felt like I was constantly getting fat and being babied, no pun intended.'

'Like I said, Lex,' Lanie reminded her, pouring her a drink and ushering her over to the living room couch. 'We've all been through this and more importantly, we- I mean me, Andrea and Sloan, we've all gone through a particularly tough issue for pregnant women to deal with, which is the changes of our bodies affecting our sexual appeal to our partners.'

Alexis could only stare at these three beautiful, sexy women she was proud to call her friends. 'But...why? You're all beautiful, and your men love you, why would you think they didn't?'

'Because you can't anticipate the way your body changes at different stages of pregnancy,' Sloan explained. 'I bulked up a lot towards the end with Nate and I was terrified something would happen in Jeremy's brain that he'd look at me and go, yeah right like I want to fuck a woman whose ass has its own zip code.'

'You'd gone through a lot with Garrett,' Alexis pointed out, 'that is understandable, Sloan.'

'I went through it, too, though it was slightly different.' Andrea, who'd brought over the tray of healthy snacks, parked herself on the floor beside Sloan and crunched a green pepper. 'Before we did the photo-shoot for Sloan's first ever _Real Live Women_ I was convinced that all my friends had been secretly having surgery to look better than me. Like Lanie getting a boob job or your mother getting her nose planed down even though she wasn't part of the photo-shoot.'

'Mom had to have her nose fixed just after she met Dad because she'd got it broken when she'd taken down a suspect and did a face plant in an alley,' Alexis pointed out, 'and if I'm doing my math right, Lanie's boobs would have been bigger because she was pregnant with Finn and they'd gotten bigger from hormones too.'

'Exactly,' Andrea pointed out. 'I was feeling so insecure about my body I was making shit up about people I love and care about, who wouldn't carve themselves up on a whim to spite me. I was projecting all those feelings because I was scared my husband wouldn't find me sexual attractive anymore.'

'Point is, Lex,' Sloan explained further, 'we've all had babies and there is a lot of change about your body to handle, but the important thing to remember is that- wait, no two things. First thing, if your man is truly your man, he's going to think you look one-hundred percent sexy because you're having his baby, no matter what. Even if you have a very hard birth, like I did with Nate, he will want to celebrate your body and all its changes before and after the baby comes.'

'And two?'

'Two, is that it's not all horror stories because trust me, once the titty fairy arrives around week fifteen-sixteen, you won't be able to keep your hands off each other.'

'Really?'

'Oh yeah.' Lanie nodded. 'Which brings us to the fun part of tonight. There's good sex stories and then there's good preggo-sex stories.'

'Right.' Andrea pulled out _Modern Mothers Monthly_ and flipped to the Pop-Quiz section. 'Pick a number, Lex.'

'Eight.'

'Eight, eight, ei- ah! Oh, this is good. Tell us about the first time the baby kicked you during sex.' Andrea smiled at Sloan. 'I know you have a good one for that from Nate's pregnancy.'


	25. Doctors Weaver: 15 Weeks, 4 Days

Shane awoke out of a dead sleep at Alexis' cellphone going off. Groaning, he reached for it and saw it was in fact Ryan calling; he picked it up without a second thought.'

'You dialed the wrong Weaver.'

'Did I? I need to talk to Alexis.'

'She's asleep.' Shane looked at his wife, her baby bump tenting up the sheets. 'She's not on call like a cop is, you know.'

'Normally I wouldn't ask but- No, Newman, take Watkins and Brennan, you'll need the hands!' Ryan hollered on his end of the phone. 'Sorry, I normally wouldn't ask but Javi and I have a triple homicide. Gangbangers, and the only survivor asked for her shrink, which is your wife, says she wants to talk to her first before the cops.'

'Okay.' Shane dragged his hand over his face, sighed. 'Gimme a moment.'

He set the phone aside, gently nudged Alexis' shoulder. 'Lexy, come on my little strawberry, you gotta wake up.'

'Shane?' Alexis mumbled his name sleepily. 'Whassa matter? Fire alarm? Did I wet the bed?'

'No, my love. Detective Ryan's on the phone, he needs your help on a crime scene.'

'Oh. Okay.'

Alexis shifted, realizing that all the snacking she was doing for the baby was starting to catch up to her as she had to make a concentrated effort to sit up in bed now. She held out her hand for her phone, cleared her throat. 'Ryan?'

Shane watched at she slipped into her own doctor mode, nod in the patented way all psychiatrists seemed to have. She turned to him, mimed a drink and a snack so Shane went to the kitchen to boil the kettle for her; it was still cold at night and he knew she'd like her naturally decaf red tea with lemon to take along as a warm-up. He added some of Meredeth's leftover garlic bread from dinner that night along with a few filets of their friend's chicken parmigiana.

He headed back to their bedroom, went straight for the bureau for pants and a sweater; Alexis looked at him as she brushed her hair back into a ponytail like he was arranging artifacts from a UFO.

'What are you doing?'

'I'm going with you, Lex, there's no fucking way in hell I'm letting you go to a crime scene in the middle of the night alone.'

She thought about protesting for one sincere minute then realized it would do no-one any good so Alexis shrugged, comically put her hands on the sides of her round tummy like she was covering ears. 'Don't swear around the baby, Papa. That's my job during the birth.'

'Fair enough. Where did Ryan say we're going?'

* * *

The crime scene was most definitely a blood-bath - three dead gang-bangers, the oldest no more than nineteen, all riddled with bullet wounds in an empty lot that had once been a parking space and now was disowned by the city. As the space was just steps from the doors of a popular night-club, the Lookie-Lou factor was so high Ryan and Esposito had had to resort to using detectives and uniforms for crowd control.

'Jesus, what the fuck possessed them to do this just before last call?' Esposito groused. 'I am off the roll tomorrow, I have plans with my wife and kids.'

'You got interrupted in the sack with Meredeth, don't pretend otherwise bro,' Ryan groused back, thinking about how he'd been asleep naked in bed with his own sweet bride after some late-night loving. 'But your bitching is always entertaining.'

'Thanks for that. Any sign of the Doctors Weaver yet?'

'You think they'll both show up?'

Esposito gave Ryan a look. 'Alexis is almost four months pregnant, would you let Honey-Milk go to work in the middle of the night alone in that condition?'

'She works in a hospital, that's slightly different than this, and...yeah, okay, I see you point.'

'Think that's them.'

Ryan and Esposito pointed to the cab that parked down the street, and they both breathed a small sigh of relief when Shane and Alexis both popped out of the backseat. They took a moment to watch how Alexis kept one hand on her belly while marching through the crowd. Just like Beckett, they both thought.

'Hey, Mama.'

'That's Doctor Mama tonight. Ryan said on the phone my patient got caught in the crossfire?'

'Yeah, she's with the paramedics.'

'Who's on the wagon?' Shane asked Esposito as Ryan lead Alexis where she needed to go.

'Pearlmutter, and he's as chipper as always. You gonna jump in, give a hand?'

'If by that you mean, watch my wife to make sure she and my baby aren't hurt, then yeah, on it like white on rice.'

Esposito watched him walk away and wondered if his friend, the highly-educated and very self-aware doctor, knew he was the very epitome of a nervous first-time daddy.

Shane watched Alexis standing at the back of the ambulance where a tough-but-pale mixed-race girl was sitting with a paramedic, a blanket over her shoulders.

'Nanette, I need you to tell me what happened. Why did you go with Tiolis tonight and risk violating your parole?'

'He said he would rape my sister if I didn't come with him for the buy tongith as a bargaining chip. Said he'd break her in for a few of his friends.' Nanette's eyes, glossy with shock, seemed to stare right through Alexis. 'She's eleven years old, Doctor Weaver. Given the choice between getting knocked for parole violation or my baby sister being violated, I'll do whatever I can to find.'

'Excuse me.' Watkins came up, handed Nanette her purse. 'You'll need this for the trip to the hospital.'

'Okay.'

Nanette rooted around in her purse, came up with her phone and pressed a button. 'I pretended like I was texting my sister not to worry, but I turned on the recorder so that you and the other cops can hear them and that I didn't do shit with them.'

'Okay. You'll have to give it to the officers for evidence but I'll ask them for a copy of the recording so we can talk about it in session next week.'

'Wait, you're still taking me on?' Nanette looked at Alexis with fragile hope. 'Even if I get knocked for parole violation?'

'That's not a given, and of course I'm sticking. I told you I want to help you work through your parole, however long that is.'

'Thank you.' Nanette dissolved into tears and threw her arms around Alexis, then jerked back. 'Oh, I'm sorry, I know, no hugging.'

'I think we can make an exception this one time.'

Alexis let the girl get in one more before she was loaded into the ambulance; she returned to see Shane discussing something with Pearlmutter who was in fine surly form.

'Doctor Weaver, tell Doctor Weaver to go home,' he snarked when Alexis stood beside her man.

'Right, Lex, let's go. You did you thing, now back to bed for you and the bumpy.'

'Not that Doctor Weaver, the other Doctor Weaver,' Pearlmutter groused. 'Lady Doctor Weaver, take your husband out of my ever-thinning hair. He's pissing me off, hovering around like a gnat.'

Shane's mouth worked up and down silently as Alexis tried not to laugh. 'Come on, Papa to be, let's go. You did your thing now back to bed for us and the bumpy.'

'You're lucky you're hot and having my child, Alexis,' Shane teased her, and kissed her lightly. He felt the shiver run through her and arched an eyebrow. 'You cold?'

'Nope, in fact I'm feeling quite...hot.'

'Then let's really get back to bed.'


	26. Lovers II

'I really hope that doesn't happen too often.'

'Me neither.'

Alexis half-yawned her agreement when she walked into their apartment behind Shane. Though they'd been out for less than an hour, it made no difference to their body clocks that were screaming obscenities at them. 'It's tough on me and bumpy. Fortunately tomorrow is Saturday so we can sleep in a little bit, can't we?'

'As can I, since I start nights tomorrow.'

'And since we get to sleep in...' Alexis looked around, spied the couch in the living room. 'That'll do for now.'

'No, Lex,' Shane replied automatically. 'You're not sleeping on the couch.'

'Who said it was for sleep?'

Shane watched in fascination as Alexis, out of her winter clothes, pulled her top over her head, popped the hooks on her maternity pants. He was so excited she was now using the clothes that Sloan had dropped off to her, as it meant the baby was growing big and strong and Alexis was doing an awesome job protecting it.

Then the chauvinistic side of his brain took over when Alexis flicked open the hook of her bra and she let the soft, stretchy lace fall away from her body before she nudged the matching panties to the floor. He loved how her normally angular body was lusher now, and curvier; the trite 'more of his woman to love' line seemed to pedestrian to describe how he loved her changing body.

Alexis smiled angelically at her husband, held her hand out to him. 'The baby books say that using a chair or couch with me on top is a good way for us to make love that is easiest on the bump.'

'So this is like, practice, for when our baby pokes out past your toes?'

'Exactly.' Alexis frowned a little as Shane peeled off his own clothes. 'Shane, will you still think I'm beautiful after that happens? And after the baby comes?'

'Of course, why would you ask such a question,' he replied as he wrestled himself out of his t-shirt.

'Well, I just think of Sloan and Garrett, how much of an asshole he was to Sloan during her pregnancy. Do you know he even joked about breaking up with her if she had to have a c-section.'

'First clue, Sherlock, a man who is that unwilling to accept changes in his girlfriend means two things. One he doesn't really love her and two he is in no way ready to be a father.' Shane put his hand gently on Alexis' rounded belly. 'I love you very very much, and this one too. So you can gain seventy pregnancy pounds and I will love you just as much as if you can't lose them as I do right now.'

'Oh, this is supposed to be about sex,' Alexis laughed, waving her hands in front of her face as she tried not to cry; why couldn't she be a bitch instead of a sobber? 'Say something to put me back in the mood.'

'Your boobs look even better than before?'

'Something better than that.'

He smiled, leaned in to kiss the side of your neck. 'Tonight is about your pleasure alone, Lex, and I know exactly what you need.'

'What is that?'

'You...want...' He trailed kissed over her neck, up to nibble her earlobe '...my...mouth...'

'Yes?'

'Between...your...thighs...right...now.'

Shane waited a beat, saw her eyes had glazed over, felt her nipples harden against his chest. 'Don't you, my sweet sexy strawberry?'

'Oh, God yes.' Alexis all but whimpered it. 'Yes.'

'Come here.'

Shane sat down on the couch, his hands on Alexis' hips as she straddled him. He could already feel her gettign wet for him, which only served to increase his own arousal. But that could wait, as tonight was just about celebrating her and her body. God she was beautiful, he thought, kissing her as his hands cupped her breasts. They were rounder, fuller from the hormones now, but they still felt like Alexis. He circled his thumb near her nipple on her left breast and he heard her groan into his mouth; he found its mate and this time her back arched, pressing the bump against him.

'Easy girl,' he murmured against her lips, 'plenty of time.'

'I know, I...oh!' Alexis' head lolled back when Shane lowered his mouth to the top swell of her breast, then the other. When he moved lower, taking the peak into his mouth and rolling his tongue over the rosy tip she nearly lost her mind. 'Shane, baby...please...'

'Say it,' he moaned, savouring the taste of her, sweet cream and roses. 'Say it, my love.'

'Shane, use your tongue on me. I want your tongue on my...my...'

'Yes. Here.'

Shane shifted his hips, cradling the small of her back gently so that he twisted them into a far more conduicive position for oral sex. With Alexis on her back beneath him, Shane ran his hand up one leg; he took her ankle gently in his hand and rested it on the back of the couch, nudged the other one so her foot hit the floor.

'We can still try a few acrobatics before the bump is too big,' he told her, and he grew hard when he saw the lustful, glazed look in her eyes. Her hands were running over her naked breasts, fingertips trailing over her pebble-hard nipples, and Shane had to swallowed tightly so he could keep it together and fulfill her request.

Starting at her ankle, he kiss his way up the length of her leg, the inside of her thigh; his tongue darted out over the little hollow there, before he gave into indulgence and craving and kissed her where he knew she wanted him most.

Alexis groaned, long and loud at the feel of her husband's mouth between her legs; god these pregnancy hormones had all but doubled her regular libido making everything feel a thousands times more intense. Her hips rocked gently back and forth, and Shane put his hands on the outsides of her thighs to steady her. 'Yes, Shane, yes, just like that, my love.'

Shane could only moan as he tasted her, sweet and musky, before he changed the pace he'd set for her; he slipped two fingers to move apart her heated lips so he could spear his tongue inside her. Alexis gasped out his name, her fingers finding their way through his hair as he pleasured her, her body going tighter and tighter until he rolled his tongue over her trigger and she came in a blinding avalanche for him. Her hips moved like lightning until she went rigid and stiff, then limp, her leg sliding down from the back of couch to rest over his shoulder. Shane gently manoeuvred her so he could move up her body, hold her close.

'Something like that, Lex?' he murmured and Alexis kissed him, full and deep.

'Exactly that,' she replied in the same satisfied tone. 'But we're not done yet.'

'Oh?'

'Mmm-mmm.' Alexis reached down between their bodies, found him still hard as iron and slipped him inside her. 'I have to say thank you.'


	27. Worries

A few hours later - Shane had difficulty call it 'the next morning' when it was ten am and he and Alexis had fallen asleep around three-thirty - he awoke to find the bed empty. Alexis' body clock was reliable even when shifted; she never liked to sleep more than six hours a night since getting pregnant and that was fine with him since he knew she'd make it up the moment she came home from work.

Yawning and stretching, he thought about turning on the music while he sorted out his day-off to-do list. God, he really was a married man he chuckled, if he had a honey-do list on a Saturday. There was a shitload of laundry to do, as Alexis was going through clothes like a Hollywood diva - one of her strongest second trimester symptoms was a case of the sweats. There was the dishes to clean up, the vacuuming and dusting so Alexis wouldn't get sneezy and sick when she couldn't take anything for it.

Shane laughed a little at himself while he shaved. He knew Alexis was going through a nesting stage, wanting everything 'just so'; it was a perfectly normal part of pregnancy but he had to wonder if it was common for daddies-to-be too. He'd have to ask the guys about it at cards the following week. Or better yet, he could ask Ryan that night when he and Alexis went to the Ryan home for dinner. They been routinely invited out, either one of both of them, by varying combinations of their friends since they'd announced their pregnancy.

He went into the kitchen with the intention of turning on the satellite radio to keep him company - Alexis liked to go for a walk these days when she woke up on a day off - and stopped short when he saw his beautiful bride fast asleep on the couch. He wondered if this meant her baby-sickness had come back, as when they'd first begun seeing each other, if she had the flu she'd sleep on the couch to avoid disturbing him.

'My beautiful girl,' he sighed, not surprised when he really thought about it. Going over, he tucked the blanket around her body, stroked her hair. 'Lexy?'

'Mmm.'

'Sexy-Lexy, you sleepy?'

'Mmmm.'

'I'm doing some chores so if I wake you up, I'm sorry in advance, okay?'

'Mmmm,' was the reply for the third time so Shane kissed her brow, and the bump, and went about doing what he needed to do as quietly as possible.

She was still asleep by the time he managed to get three loads of laundry through the wash, the dishwasher run and the dusting done, along with getting the paperwork shit boxed up a little more in the office that also has his tread-mill-wieght-bench combo. They'd decided the afternoon they found out the baby was on its way that this would become the nursery, and after Shane did the math, realized Alexis was in her second trimester he wanted to start getting this part done sooner. He knew how frustrated Alexis was getting that while she looked pregnant because there was no movement yet, even a flutter, she only felt fat still. A nursery in the apartment would definitely help her feel less plumpy, more yummy-mummy.

When he looked in the fridge to start making lunch - or would it be breakfast since Alexis was still asleep? - he looked over at her still on the couch and wondered if he should be concerned she was sleeping so much today. Before he could fret on it too much, he saw her stir and sit up with a yawn and a stretch.

'There's my Sleeping Beauty,' he sang to her. 'How you feeling?'

'Shane I swear to God, you say that one more time to me this week, you will be singing soprano for a month,' she snapped at him, then pouted. 'Sorry.'

'No, it's the hormones, I get that. I just meant are you feeling rested after a long sleep?'

'What time is it?' Alexis looked around, rubbing her belly and shifting.

'Almost one thirty.'

'Shit! Why did you let me sleep that long?'

'Because you needed it, and figured you'd punch me in the crotch if I tried to wake you up by vacuuming,' Shane pointed out to her.

Alexis nodded. 'You figured right. Is there bacon? Baby wants BLTs.'

'You can have junk-food when we go to the movies tonight with the Ryans. Right now you can have peanut butter on banana toast.'

'Oh, yummy.'

Shane chuckled as he helped her to her feet, watched her crinkle up her face. 'What's wrong, honey? Are you having cramps or spotting?'

'No, you big baby,' Alexis replied irritably, then sighed against as she put her hand to his cheek and sniffled a little. 'I'm just feeling cranky and out of sorts. That's allowed right? I'm turning into a whale growing a baby I can't even feel moving yet, how do I know it's really there? I'm the mom, I'm supposed to protect it. How do I know it's okay in there?'

'Sweetheart, hey, hey look at me. Look at me,' Shane told her when she really started to cry, her chin dropping to her chest. He put his hands on her tear-stained cheeks and was nearly undone by what she said next.

'Shane, what happens if I lose it like the last one? We've already heard its beautiful little heartbeat, I don't think I could bear it.'

'No, Alexis, you listen to me.' He loathed how firm and sharp he had to keep his tone, but it did no good. A few tears began to leak out his own eyes. 'You and I both know that one before when you lost it was just a fluke, that it was just bad luck it didn't stick. We're out of the danger zone with this one, and I bet you any day you're going to feel those little flutters and stirrings that let you know the baby's doing just great.'

'Shane.'

Alexis broke then, and laid her head against her husband's shoulder as she cried and cried, Shane fighting to be strong for her and comfort her.

'Alexis, it's okay to be scared,' he told her, 'I'm scared too. But not about losing the baby.'

'No?'

'No. I'm worried about not getting the nursery just right, or putting the nappies on the wrong way, and what...what if the baby doesn't like me the way it likes you?'

'Shane?' Alexis leaned back, looked at him. 'What do you mean?'

'You guys are already getting to bond since you actually growing the baby and protect it, keep it safe while it's developing.' Shane put his hand on her rounding belly. 'You've got almost a whole year on me. That's a lot of catching up to do.'

'Shane.' Now it was Alexis' turn to be the comforting presence. 'The baby already loves you, I know it does.'

'Oh yeah?'

'Yeah, I do. I can't explain it, but I just know it.'


	28. Awkward Moments

'Hey guys! Come on in!'

The grin was wide and welcoming as Honey-Milk stepped aside to let her friends in. She could see the signs of fatigue around the edges of Shane and Alexis' eyes and didn't blame them - being first time parents, even when it was planned, was exhausting.

'Hope you're hungry, we're having beef and bean tacos.'

'Ooo, yummy,' Alexis sighed, rubbing her belly in circles. She was still feeling iffy but better after having shared some of her fears with her husband. Both of them had needed that little crying jag, it seemed, as he'd been nothing but perky sunshine the rest of the day. 'Where are Dell and Mally?'

'Getting their heads together about what movie they are watching for themselves tonight, with Kevin supervising.' Honey-Milk made a little pouty face. 'Dell is babysitting for the first time tonight, and Mallory made him promise nothing scary.'

'Naturally.'

'Here. You have a seat-' Honey-Milk steered Alexis towards a comfy-looking armchair '-while I bring you something delicious and cold.'

'Apple juice,' she replied automatically. 'Lots and lots of ice.'

'Mama! Mama, did I hear our bestest-ever redhead and her bestest ever hubby get here?'

Mallory wandered out and grinned when she saw the pregnant woman in the living room. 'Hello baby! How are you treating your mama today?' she asked the belly directly, moving in to stroke it gently. 'I hope you are hungry because we have a dee-lish dinner planned, and then you get to have movie snacks too, and-'

'Marsh-Mally,' Shane chuckled, 'we're here too.'

'Oh I know, Shane, hello-hello,' Mallory scoffed lightly at him, 'and hello-hello Alexis too, but this is a special thing.'

She put her small hands on the sides of Alexis' belly and sighed. 'This,' she told them, almost reverently, 'this is your first ever baby and it gets all the attention right now.'

'Where's your bro and daddy?'

Mallory rolled her eyes. 'Dell was being a gross boy so Daddy sat him down for an Em-and-Em talk.'

'Em-and-Em talk?'

'It's what they call being boys together.' Mallory wrinkled her nose. 'I bet the baby's gonna be a boy.'

'You think so?'

'Uh-huh. Dell is running a baby-guessing thingie again for you and Lindsay, and he says a lot of us kids are all guessing Lindsay and you are both growing boys. And I'm guessing her baby is born on June twenty and yours is on September twenty.'

'Good guesses,' Shane agreed, then saw Ryan and a slightly miffed-looking Dell wander out. 'Hey guys.'

'Mally, come on, let's go pick out our movie for tonight on the Netflix from Mama and Dad's room,' he said gruffly, not even looking at Alexis or Shane. When the kids were out of earshot and Ryan heaved a sigh, Shane arched an eyebrow.

'Dude, what the hell's wrong with him?'

'He's a nearly-twelve-year-old boy who is going through sex-ed and doesn't want to believe that his older-woman crush Alexis could actually have sex and like it, and get pregnant,' Ryan explained, and Alexis nodded. 'Sex is for porn stars and other girls in magazines but not his good-girl Alexis.'

'Poor kid,' Alexis chuckled. 'Maybe I should go talk to him.'

'Oh, Lex-'

'Shane,' she warned him with a single use of his name, and Ryan got a little rush out of seeing how his friend shut up promptly.

Alexis levered her ever-expanding pregnant self out of the chair, went belly-first down the hallway to find Dell in his room with his sister. 'Hey Mally, mind if I talk to Dell alone for a moment?'

'Is it about baby stuff?'

'Kind of.'

'Okay.'

Mallory wandered past Alexis, remembering to kiss the bump on her way out, and Alexis watched Dell swallow tightly. 'Heard you're having a tough time with me being pregnant, Dell.'

'So?'

'So, talk to me.' She eased her body onto the edge of his bed; God, she really wished she could feel the baby moving. 'Why does my having a baby weird you out.'

'We learned how babies are conceived in sex-ed,' Dell muttered, turning red as his dino-egg table lamp. 'Can't believe you do that with Shane, it's...I know couples in love do that, and make families but I just don't like having to see the proof of it all the time.'

'Dell, being confused by your feelings is perfectly fine. I go through that a couple times a day, hell sometimes before lunch.'

'You said 'hell',' Dell sniffed primly, then couldn't help grinning. 'It's just...it's like last year when Mama did Sloan's art show.'

'Ah.' Alexis nodded sagely. 'I remember how tough a day that was for you.'

'Yeah, well...' Dell looked her up and down, the first he'd looked at her since she'd come into his room. 'Can you feel it kicking yet?'

'No, but I'm sure that will happen soon.'

'Okay.' Dell came over, gave her tummy a little rub. 'Hey banana, sorry for beign weird.'

'Everyone has their moments Dell. Help me up?'

Dell nodded, and he tugged Alexis' hands; a moment later the boy's bedroom was filled with the sound and stench of pregnancy flatulence. Alexis watched as Dell's eyes actually watered and he lifted the collar of his shirt so he was breathing through the cotton.

'Sweet fancy-dancing Moses, Alexis!' he yelped. 'What did you eat! That so so gross!'

'That's what it's like being pregnant, Dell. The baby is pressing against my intestines which means my body digests things differently because of the pressure so when I need to fart, it smells like, well, that.'

'And Shane stills loves you even when you do that?'

'Yep, he sure does. He might have to tell me from a different room but he still love me.'

'Wow.' Dell shook his head. 'I sure hope my Tessi and I love each other like that when we get married and have babies. Okay, no. We need to get fresh air, that smell is gonna poison your baby.'

Dell took Alexis by the wrist and led her out of his room, gave Alexis' belly a rub. 'There, fresh air for you, banana.'

'Why are you calling the baby banana?'

'Because we learned about it in health class, the stages of pregnancy, and I asked my teacher because I thought of you, and she said the baby is the size of half a banana right now.'

Alexis laughed, kissed the top of his head. 'Okay, banana boy, let's go get some dinner.'

They headed out to the kitchen where Shane and Mallory were putting plates and bowls and silverware on the table. 'Look out everyone, Alexis is farty tonight,' Dell informed the room, 'which I know is gross since we're about to eat but everyone just needs to know and we all need to know that's okay for her to gas in case she needs to.'

'Well,' Ryan decided when no-one said anything after Dell's little speech. 'Guess that's our cue for beef and beans.'


	29. Movements I: 16 Weeks, 6 Days

A week later, after another awkward night with friends - they'd been out for dinner at the Mazzara house and watching the original _Anchorman_; Alexis laughed so hard she accidentally wet her pants, which in turn caused her to burst into tears of frustrated embarrassment - Shane was standing over the body of a man face down in a puddle outside a nightclub's alley-way entrance. It was more than a little eerie looking because if it hadn't been for the fact he'd checked for a pulse and breath sounds himself he'd guess the guy had just fallen asleep on the filthy floor of the alley after a few too many tequila shooters.

'Weird,' he muttered to himself. 'Weird, weird, weird.'

'Evening, Doctor Big Daddy.'

Shane looked up from filling in his field report, saw the Ry-Sposito monster there with his mother-in-law. 'Evening gentlemen, Omi.'

'Omi?' Ryan arched an eyebrow in question, not surprised when Beckett simply shook her head.

'We decided instead of my being Grandma or Nana or Nanny, I'm going to be Omi and Rick will still be Daddy,' she explained look down at the latest addition to New York City's crime statistics.

'Kate Beckett a grandmother,' Esposito concluded, shaking his head with a grin. 'Damn, that's strange.'

'Speaking of strange how about our friend here?' Shane tapped his pen on his clipboard before pointing it to the 'Victim is an unidentified Asian male, roughly aged twenty to twenty-five, COD unknown upon visual examinations. I'll have to get him back to my place to know what did him in.'

'He just DFO'd?' Ryan suggested.

'No, at a guess from the track marks on his arm, I'm going with OD but like I said, I'll need to get him to the morgue to know for sure. Over here, guys.'

Shane waved over his assistants who bagged the body and took it on the stretcher back to the OCME van while the CSU team did their thing. 'Are we done here?'

'Everything alright?' Esposito asked, not liking the test tone he heard in his friend.

'Yeah, no, yeah, I'm fine, just worried Alexis is going crazy from hormones. She wants to feel the baby moving so she doesn't just feel fat,' he explained, and all three detectives nodded. 'That's normal, right?'

'Totally,' Ryan agreed. 'Dell was an early mover and Mally was a late mover, so Jenny got really scared something had happened to Mally but once she started moving she didn't stop.'

'Same with Max,' Esposito added.

'Cool. Okay, guys, I gotta roll out with our homes there.'

They watched Shane go out of the alley to the OCME van; Ryan was the first one to speak. 'Maybe we should swing by the morgue with a little cheer-up snack for him. Right?'

'Guy just wants his baby mama to be okay,' Esposito agreed, 'I'd say that's earned him some sesame beef and bok choy for sure.'

* * *

'Print scan has revealed the John Doe's identity as Will Hannah, street name Hanoi Hannah due to his Vietnamese heritage and his penchant for dealing in the strain of hash known as Saigon Sweet-grass. Multiple arrests for drug possession but only two convictions out of...wow, fourteen arrests since the age of fourteen.'

Shane paused on reading the information into his Audiovox, gave a low whistle. 'Dude, you just gotta say no,' he told his cold friend before entering the case file number along with the date and time. He glanced up at the noise of his doors being shoved open and didn't bother pausing the record when the Ry-Sposito monster walked in but merely read the arrival of the investigative team into the record.

'We brought you dinner,' Ryan told him, holding up the bag from Monsoon. 'You have anything yet Doctor Weaver?'

'Got a name and record off the prints. I was just about to start the Y-cut.'

'And on that cheerful note.' Esposito put the carton of Thai food and the pineapple cream soda on his friend's computer bench. 'See you tomorrow for poker, bro.'

Shane made an 'mm' noise as he positioned his knife at the edge of the corpse's left collar bone, pressed down into the flesh - and got the shock of his life.

The eye's flew open as the man started to scream bloody murder, sat up like a mechanical mummy on the table. Shane let out a yell, stumbling back against his tray of tools that clattered to the floor. Ryan and Esposito whipped around like snakes about to strike, weapons drawn, and felt their own jaws drop open as they saw the sight before them: Shane Weaver, pale-faced and screaming like a cartoon character while the man on the cold metal exam table screamed just as loudly.

'Goddamn! He's alive! Holy fuck! Holy fuck!' Shane had let his scalpel drop to the floor, his breath coming in short quick pants as he fought to keep his heart from leaping out of his mouth. 'Jesus fucking Christ! He's alive! He's alive!'

'Doctor Weaver!' Ryan tried to snap the order out but when it came out as a half-squeal, half-shriek, he lost a little credibility. 'Sir! Sir! Calm down, you're in the morgue, I-'

But the man would not stop screaming, and to both Ryan and Esposito's amazement neither did Shane. The badass ex-pilot from the Israeli Air-Force was the colour of whole wheat flour, lips actually white and eyes dark as his fingers clawed numbly at the protective gown he wore over his scrubs.

Before either of them could move Doctor Pearlmutter burst through the doors, took one look at the set-up and went straight to Shane. 'You deal with the live one,' he told the cops briskly before crouching down in front of Shane, who was staring at the table. 'Doctor Weaver.'

'I nearly performed an autopsy on a living man,' he said numbly.

'Yes, I see that.'

'I've been a medical examiner for nearly eighteen years and that's the first time that's happened.'

'We'll tidy up in here, get things sorted out. Then you're going home.'

'But-'

Pearlmutter shook his head, and in a move that surprised everyone, put his hand on Shane's cheek. 'You've got enough on your plate worrying about your pregnant wife. Go home and rest, and let her be there for you.'

* * *

Alexis woke up, checked the clock as she heard her husband coming in the door. She blinked, confused - the clock read just past one-thirty but Shane was supposed to be working nights tonight. Shoving back the duvet, she rubbing her protruding belly.

'Why is Papa home so soon, baby? Let's go find out.'

Alexis wandered bump-first into the kitchen, groaning as she put her hands to the small of her back. Her husband was home, it wasn't a dream, and he was getting out the bottle of Jack Daniels and a shot glass.

'Shane? Honey, why are you home and drinking?'

'Because trust me, if you had the night I just had, you'd be home drinking too.'

'What happened?'


	30. Movements II

Rather than sitting down, Alexis went to the fridge to get herself some of the iced tea Meredeth had dropped off; it was caffeine free already for the baby so she didn't have to worry about it keeping her awake. She had a feeling her husband's story would do that just dandy-fine.

She returned to the table with her own juice tumbler of red-raspberry, lightly drummed her fingers on the table. 'What happened, baby?'

'I...okay, from the top. We got called to a scene in Alphabet City, outside a nightclub. Guy was dead as Dillinger when we got there.'

'Right.'

'So I get him back to the morgue and thank fucking God Ryan and Esposito decided to surprise me with Thai food.'

'That's where that came from,' Alexis smiled. 'I thought maybe I got preggo brain again and forgot all about ordering takeout.'

Shane laughed a little; it felt good to laugh after the shock he'd just had. 'Anyways, they were in my theatre with me as I started to make my Y-cut, and that's when things got weird.'

'Weird how?'

'Well...' Shane down a shot of whiskey, wincing when he saw Alexis visibly gag on the smell. She'd never liked that smell even before she was pregnant. 'Sorry, my strawberry, but I need this.'

'Shane.' Alexis nudged aside the liquor bottle and glass, took his hands in hers. 'Talk to me. What happened?'

'I...the man wasn't dead. I started to make my Y-cut and he sat up screaming like, well...like he'd been stabbed, which I pretty much did to him.'

'He wasn't dead?'

'No.'

'He was alive.'

'That's what 'not dead' means,' he agreed.

Alexis pulled her hands through her hair, then tried to fight the laugh but it was a no-go. It came spilling out of her in snorting guffaws. 'Oh good God, Shane, I'm so sorry, I...it's the hormones! It's not funny and I know it's not but..but...'

Shane watched as his wife dissolved into hysterical guffaws as his head swam a little from the alcohol. 'Laugh it up, Kinder-Surprise,' he teased her, giving the belly a poke, 'you weren't the one who nearly turned a Vietnamese drug dealer into a science lab frog.'

'No, that'd be you.'

'That's not even the best part.'

'There's more?' Alexis' eyes went wide with delight. 'Oh man, what can be better than that?'

'Ryan and Esposito were still there, they drew down on the guy and they were trying to keep cool, but I was yelling and this dude on my slab was yelling, it was just a mess.'

'So let me see if I have this right. You're screaming, the corpse that isn't dead is screaming, and the two cops with guns in their hands are screaming.'

Put like that, Shane had to admit it sounded pretty damn funny, and shook his head as he watched Alexis laugh it out so that ears were actually rolling down her face.

'God, I'd have paid my entire Christmas shopping budget to see that,' she giggled as she wiped tears from her cheeks, then winced, which had Shane going on alert right away.

'Babe, what is it?'

'Nothing, just these weird little spasms, I've been getting them all night since you left.'

'Spasms,' Shane repeated. 'Like cramps?'

'No, like...butterfly wings in my uterus, it's really weird.'

'Where's the book?' All humour gone now, Shane wen to the bedroom and found their copies of _Baby Boom_ and _What to Expect_; he passed her one copy and kept the other for himself. 'You're sixteen weeks right?'

'And three days.'

'Okay.'

They scanned through the books, looking for any of Alexis' symptoms; Shane struck gold first and he looked at the passage with growing glee. 'Lex, honey, does this sound right? 'Around weeks fifteen to seventeen you will begin to feel odd little flutterings in your uterus like a butterfly or a goldfish swimming'. Is that what it feels like?'

'Yeah, exactly.' Alexis looked in her own book, then at her husband. 'Shane.'

'Yes, Alexis.'

'It's the baby! It's moving! That's the first movements we can feel!'

'Oh, God, Lex.'

Shane shoved back from the table as she began to weep happy tears, one hand pressed to her mouth and the other rubbing her belly in circles. He knelt so the bump was at eye-level and he put his hand near her navel. 'Hello, hey you in there, yeah, you. We're so excited you're getting so big, baby. You think you're gonna share all that cool stuff with your old man soon?'

'The book says not until eighteen to twenty weeks can we feel the first kicks.'

'Shh, Lex, we're having a moment.' Shane turned his head, laid his ear on her belly and sighed so dreamily Alexis began to cry in earnest. 'Hey, come on now, this is a happy time, why are you crying? Hormones?'

'And because I love you so much.'

'I love you right back, Alexis.'

Alexis threw her arms around her husband, cuddling against his shoulder before finding his mouth with hers in a fiercely passionate kiss. She shuddered once and felt him pull her to her feet towards the bedroom, where they couldn't get out of their clothes fast enough, and even then when they had the other's touch everywhere on their bodies, they had very little patience or time for tenderness. It was about the need to feel and taste their mate, to pour out all their stress, their love, their anger until they were reduced to moans and sighs; because of who they were to each other they needed little else.

When were finished, they lay together in bed, the bumpy between them as Shane rubbed his fingers over her body. 'God this is beautiful, Lex,' he murmured to her and Alexis nodded.

'I know you'll think this is crazy but I finally feel pregnant again.'

'That's not crazy, sweetheart. I know how tough it's been for you. That's kinda what it's been like for me.'

'Oh?'

'Mm-hmm.' Shane nodded, toyed with the ends of her hair. 'You get to feel those things before me because they are so small and internal, I don't get to feel kicks for at least another two weeks.'

'Remember that time on our first anniversary, when we got that take out from Spice Palace? And then you got the scoots really badly? Imagine that fluttery feeling but instead of it being shit-falls, it's a baby making you feel that way.'

'I do believe your pregnancy hormones have made you have a trucker mouth,' Shane snickered.

'Remember that when I'm in the throes of labour and swearing your skin off.'

'I'll be right there while you bring our baby in to the world. Which reminds me, we gotta ask Harvey about that question I had earlier this week on our appointment on Monday.'

'Right in the mean time...' Alexis rubbed her belly, turned over so her back was pressed against his chest. 'Wanna do it spoon-style this time?'


	31. Check Ups: 17 Weeks, 1 Day

'I really hope this doesn't take too long,' Alexis sighed as she lay in the paper gown on the exam table in Harvey's office. It was weird to go to his actual office across the street from the hospital; she was so used to seeing him in the clinic there she forgot he actually had a real office. 'This baby is crushing my bladder.'

'You just peed while you were getting changed,' Shane pointed out to her. 'Will it really fill up that quickly once again?'

'No uterus, no opinion,' she replied. 'What do you think of Maxime?'

'Too French. What about Henry?'

'Henry Weaver? That could work. But will it fit with a Hebrew name since we agreed that will go on the birth certificate?'

'Sure it will. Henry Eyal Gordon Weaver.'

'I like that,' Alexis agreed. 'Why those names?'

'Eyal was my grandfather who survived the Amsterdam ghetto and changed the family name to Weaver after the Canadian soldier who came into his shop and told him the German forces were being driven back.'

'The watchmaker?' Alexis propped herself to her elbows. 'Why did you never tell me that one?'

'It's hard for me to talk about Papa's father because he passed away not long after I moved to the States for school. Then again he was ninety-one and survived German occupation, so hey, we've got longevity and endurance on our side.'

'That we do. Why Gordon?'

Shane didn't regiser her question right away, as he just sat beside his wife and stared at her body. Naming the baby was always something that made him go starry-eyed because it reminded him it wasn't just about the nursery or Alexis' health or things like that, though they were high on the priority list, this little life they were creating would need a name, a label and symbol to make their own in the world. Not just any ordinary name would do for such a special baby.

'Shane?'

'Sorry honey-'

'Don't call me that,' Alexis barked, then relented. 'Sorry, Shane, it's the hormones.'

'Why, though?' Shane asked.

'Why the hormones or why the honey?'

'Why the honey?'

Alexis sighed, shifted; she really hoped she could move off this spot soon but she needed the lie down, and this was an ideal spot to catch some extra rest. 'Because it makes me feel like people are looking down their noses at me, like oh honey, you just don't know any better because you're so fucking dumb.'

'You know no-one thinks of you like that, right?'

'I know, but you have to remember Shane, a lot of the people our lives are people were were my parents' friends first. They watched me grow up from being a teenager, then you and I hooked up and by proxy I became one of their friends too. They've watched me grow into, well...' She gestured to herself. 'This. A married woman with her MD and about to be a mother, and when they met me fourteen years ago, I was still in high school.'

'Okay.' Shane kissed her brow. 'I'll make a note, no more honey.'

'No, not no more honey, just don't _call_ me honey.'

Before Shane's already slightly confused brain could become even more warped, the door opened and Doctor Harvey came in, dressed in one of his oddly out-of-place suits. It was like seeing a teacher in fancy dress clothes, or their bathing suit, Shane decided, because as long as Shane had known the man, he always loked completely at home in his scrubs.

'Well, Weaver family, how are we today?'

'Good, I really wanna pee though,' Alexis confessed.

'That's natural.' Harvey pulled on gloves, patted Alexis' knees to get her to assume the position for a digital exam. 'How are you feeling overall?'

'Tired but not as tired as the first trimester, and my appetite's good. Lots of veggies and fibre and protein. Meredeth's been a big help making me drink my milk since I was never a fan of the stuff.'

'Let me guess, fruit smoothies and shakes with protein boosters?' he winked at her.

'Oh yeah but she's not the only one. Every day I get an email with menu ideas from my brother too.'

'Oh?'

'RJ loves to bake as you know, Harvey,' Shane explained, 'and he goes to school and uses his computer time to scour The Food Network and Epicurious and Baby-Center for ideas. He's taking hsi job as an uncle even more seriously than he did as a new big brother.'

'And how is Jojo handling things?' Harvey asked. 'When my youngest girl was born, her older sisters wanted Alecia to do absolutely nothing and let them do everything for her.'

'That's cute. Actually, all the kids have stopped talk to me, they just-ooo!'

'Alexis are you okay?' Shane went on red alert right away, making Harvey chuckle. Andrea, Daniel, Honey-Milk, even the very pregnant Doctor Brennan were all right in their observations that the tough-guy pathologist was exhibiting all the best cliches of a first-time daddy.

'Relax, Shane,' he reassured the man, 'I think Alexis is just feeling me checking for hemmrhoids, right?'

'You betcha. That is an exit-only,' she laughed. 'But no, I've been eating lots of healthy high fibre foods and drinking a glass of Metamucil every night before bed with my prenatal vitamin.'

'Good girl. The next appointment after the holiday weekend, so three weeks from now, we'll be doing the amniocentisis but things look really good here, I don't see any reason to be worried about that. Either of you.'

'Good to go?' Alexis asked, and at Harvey's nod, she zipped into the bathroom.

'Do you have any major plans for the holiday weekend, Harvey?'

'Spending time in the Hamptons with Henry Bishop, Alecia and my girls. All three of them will be there so I'm very excited about that,' Harvey smiled. 'What about you? Oh wait, let me guess. A very Castle tradition out at his place in the Hamptons that makes the rest of the shoreline jealous?'

'The kids are doing the Olympics this year and they've said that Alexis is the official presenter of medals and prizes, and Lindsay is the checkered flag waver since they're both pregnant. Leo Esposito even said he wants to be the commentator so he can tell the little bumpies what's going on since they can only hear it, not see it.'

'Those kids are great.' And being a good sport, Harvey didn't let slip by the flicker of an eyelash he was in on the scoop of just what those kids had up their sleeve for the parents to be.

Alexis emerged from the bathroom then, back in her street clothes and rubbing her belly. 'Alright, Papa, the baby says it's lunch time and baby wants Chinese food.'

'You're talking about eating deep-fried pork with all that salt and fat in front of your OBGYN?' Shane teased his bride. 'You really like to live on the edge.'

Harvey smiled. 'Go have fun you two, and I'll see you on the twenty-fifth.'


	32. Reassurances

Two days later, Shane was finishing up in the morgue labs with Micah the blood analyst when he saw Lanie come in with a fresh tray of samples.

'Double homicide in Washington Heights, could be part of a small-time serial,' the petite doctor informed him, then batted her lashes at Shane. 'Hello papa to be, is the baby mama all set for her birthday party tonight?'

'She is. Alexis has been working a lot lately and I want her to get out tonight and have some fun. I just hope her hormones don't get the better of her.'

'Oh?' Lanie tilted her head to the side. 'She having a rough couple of days?'

'A little bit. Lindsay just started her mat leave today.'

'Oh wow. I can't believe Lindsay is almost due. Seems like yesterday she was all excited to be a bride.'

'Well, you know Alexis. She is naturally a competitive person and seeing one of her best friends be almost at the finish line has her chomping at the bit.'

'Ah, I understand. Kate felt a little that way when she was having RJ and I was carrying Violet. But it passes. That's the beauty of preggo hormones. The shitty stuff is temporary and the good stuff, that's what lasts.'

'So...' Shane looked at Micah, moved away discreetly; as much as he liked to share with his friends and family, he didn't like to share with co-workers. Lanie was a very strict exception. 'When she bitches at me and snaps and frats, that's normal, and then when she tells me she loves me and wants me to bang her, that's the stuff that counts?'

'Yep. May sound a little screwy but trust me, it balances out. Do you know there were times when I'd be so turned around by my hormones when I was in bed with Dave, I'd cry during sex?'

'Really?'

Lanie nodded sagely. 'Really, really. Poor guy was so confused he had no idea what to do except finish then pass me the tissues. It was exactly the right thing to do.'

'Good to know.' Shane looked at his watch, nodded. 'I better get home if I want to make sure we're there on time. Oh and Lanie?'

'Yes?'

He gestured between them. 'Weirdest conversation I've ever had with you.'

'Even weirder than the guy who had the Monopoly pieces in his stomach?'

'Oh yeah.'

arrived home to the sound of cursing and swearing coming from the bedroom. He dropped his files to prepare for court the next day on the kitchen table and followed it in to see Alexis in her underwear actually kicking around a brightly coloured garment on the floor while swearing like a drunken French sailor.

'Goddamn stupid shitty piece of motherfucking crap! I hate you! Hate, hate fucking hate!'

'Lex?'

'What?' She wheeled and to Shane's amazement she didn't topple over. The belly had suddenly sprung up even more now and she did indeed have the full baby bloom glow in her cheeks. Or maybe that was just her temper riding high. 'What?' she repeated with just as much ferocity as the first time.

'Why are you kicking that around?'

'This rag?' Alexis boot what Shane could see was now a dress towards him, slapped her hands on her widening hips while he bent to pick it up. 'That stupid piece of shit that the twiggy little sales girl promised me was a perfect dress for a woman in her second trimester? Yeah fucking right.'

'Okay, okay, let's just take a breath and try it on.'

'I did!' Alexis' wail was almost musical. 'I did and I look like a cartoon character underneath a table cloth!'

'Humour me and we'll try it on together.'

Shane picked up the dress, a very cute number too - bright aquamarine with brush strokes of deeper blues over the right side - and found the secret zipper. THe noise of it made Alexis' scowl deepen.

'What, are you shredding it to fit my wide ass into it?'

'No, I'm tugging down the zipper.'

'Zipper?'

'Yeah it's got one of those hidden side dealies, like you had on your wedding dress. Arms up.'

Alexis grudgingly complied, closed her eyes when the cotton-silk blend slipped over her curving body like rainwater. She stared at herself in the mirror as Shane zipped her back up before her welled-up eyes spilled over. 'Goddamn it.'

'Now what?' Shane asked, a little afraid to hear the answer.

'If I had just fucking paid attention to the dress instead of havign a conniption fit, I wouldn't have spent the last two hours being all pissy, and you wouldn't have come home to a raging bi-itch of a wife,' she sobbed, thumping her forehead against his shoulder. A little baffled Shane did what he did best in a crisis - he hugged his wife.

'It's okay, ho- my little strawberry. You've got a lot on your mind and your body is changing rapidly now, but the books said that would happen.'

'But I'm supposed to be over pregnancy brain by now!'

'Couldn't it be you're just having an off day?'

'No, I can't! My mother was a cop and pregnant twice while chasing down criminals! I work in an office, sitting on my ass all day listening to juvenile delinquent sob stories! I can handle it, I have to be able to handle it.'

'Ah.'

'Ah what?' Alexis asked suspiciously.

'Ah, there's that stubborn Castle 'I have to do it myself' pride coming out.'

'You take that back.'

Shane chuckled; if Alexis had veered into 'you take that back' territory, she was on the out-swing and would come out of her funk very soon. 'Actually, if you add in a little howling no, you'll sound like your brother.'

'Do not.' But even as she said it, she relented a little and let herself be held. 'I don't want this going like the wedding did, one catastrophe after another.'

'I know, but this is totally different,' Shane reminded her. 'Deep down, underneath the crazy-bitch hormones, you know that's true.'

'Yeah, yeah.' Alexis rubbed her belly, studied her reflection in the mirror. 'This still looks cute, right? I don't look like I'm trying too hard?'

'Not at all.'

'Good.' She turned around and kissed him. 'Now help me get this off.'

Shane's eyes bugged out of his head. 'Excuse me?'

'Well you could fuck me in this dress, but that might leave wrinkles. And sweat stains. And stains of other kinds.'

'Off with the dress it is,' he laughed. A few minutes later, the once reviled garment was draped on the bureau and Shane was running his hands over Alexis' round stomach. 'I don't care what you say or feel right now, babe, this is totally sexy.'

'As I'm guessing that's a guy thing, I'll just say sure, and ask you to help me out of my panties,' she replied. 'Unless you don't want to.'

'Alexis there's no way I could say no to you without justifiable cause.'

'Good, because we might end up being late.'


	33. Admirers

'I know why you're late. I really wish I didn't but I know why.'

'Hi Dad.' Alexis pressed her lips to his cheek as he welcomed them into the loft, then sniffed. 'Oh it smells good in here. Baby likes.'

Castle felt his irritation the guest of honour was late dissipate when he watched his daughter rub her pregnant belly to soothe herself. 'Is my grandbaby kicking yet?'

'No so that we can feel it but it's definitely moving,' Shane told him, looking around the Castle castle. It had been transformed into party central - there were buffet tables set up with Alexis' favourite foods as well as tables for the younger guests and a full bar for everyone; Alexis recognized the two bartenders as employees of Marty and Teeny's. 'Did Lindsay and Adam make it?'

'Oh yeah, and she's even more pregnant than you are, Lex,' Castle laughed. 'But first you owe a couple of people apologies.'

'I'm sorry, Daddy-'

'No, not me.'

'Who?'

'Just wait.'

Alexis looked around, felt a little stupidly lame when she saw her brother and sister coming over to give her birthday hugs. 'Hey guys sorry I'm late.'

'It's okay, we know you have a lot to do with the bumpy getting bigger. Also, happy birthday birthday sister!' RJ gave her a hug with a little 'mmm' noise. 'Is it okay I made the bumpy a treat even though it's your birthday and not the bumpy's birthday?'

'Sure, I mean if the bumpy wants to taste your delicious baking I gotta eat it, right?'

'Right.' Jojo waited until her brother was done before giving Alexis a hug and the bump a kiss. 'A bunch of us little kids wanna say hello to you and the baby too. Is that okay?'

'Sure, just remember Alexis and I have grown-up friends too,' Shane reminded his kndergarten-sized sister-in-law. With a move that was directly inherited from her mother, Jojo rolled her eyes.

'Sheesh, Shane, I'm not selfish, I know we have to share her. Come on.'

Jojo took her sister's hand, laced her little fingers through Alexis' slightly puffy ones and led her into the living room where Alexis saw the Channing boys, Finn and the Esposito boys all playing cards together while the older kids were heavily involved in some kind of video game.

'That's right Nate, you put the two on top of the two which means Finn has to pick up four,' Finn encouraged the little boy.

'Thissa goo' game. I like Silly Eigh's,' Nate replied with a proud grin and Leo shook his head.

'Cuh-razy Eights, Nate, the game is called Cuh-razy Eights.'

'I no' know how say tha' wor',' Nate defended himself easily.

'That is a-o-kay, Mis-uh-ter Nate, you can say Silly Eights,' Max told him and poked his brother in the side. 'You be nice or I'm telling Tessi.'

'Look everyone! Alexis and baby are here!' Jojo announced and the boys instantly abandonned their cards in favour of stroking the bump.

'Ooooo Lessis you gossa big tummy!' Nate exclaimed, then frowned as he moved his hand around. 'No, no feel baby. Where it hidin'?'

'It's not big e-nough to feel the kicks yet,' Max explained. 'Alexis has to wait a little bit to feel the kicks, right?'

'That's right, Max,' Alexis replied, gigglign at the feeling of all the hands trrying to touch her body like she was a reliquary for pilgrims. 'Where did you learn that?'

'I ask my mami, and Anduh-rea, and Jenny, because they are all very suh-mart about babies and I have to be suh-mart too.' Max gave a confident little nod. 'I'm a puh-rofessor and we are suh-martie-pants.'

'That you are,' she agreed. 'Finn, you getting in on this action?'

'Uh-huh.' He gave her a shy smile. 'I think it's going to be a boy, Alexis.'

'You think so?'

'Mm-hmm, you look just like Lindsay and we are guessing she has a boy too.'

'Hey, what's going on?' Violet had dropped out of the video game-a-thon in favour of spending quality time with Leo and she gave him a little hug as she saw them all petting Alexis' pregnant belly. 'We playing Hot Potato with the baby? Is it kicking yet?'

'No, not yet but I can feel it moving around in there which means it's good and strong,' Alexis replied.

'Yeah, yeah, another boy for the soccer games.'

Alexis could only shake her head. 'Why are all of you so convinced that I have a boy in here?'

'I'unno,' Violet shrugged. 'We just all are really really sure. That's why we're gonna do the-'

'Noooooo!' Leo let out a howl and clamp his hand over Violet's mouth. 'No no no, you big mouth billy-bass secret-spiller! It's a surprise for both of our mamas-to-be in our family! Ew!'

Leo yanked his hand away, stared at Violet in disbelief, then at Alexis. 'She licked my hand! Yuck!'

'I was gonna say that's why we're doing the surprise before and after the baby comes! Gah!' Violet looked at Alexis in feminine solidarity. 'How do you stand Shane when he acts like that?'

'It's easy to do because I love him.'

'Ah, that's our girl secret.' Violet scrunched up her nose since she couldn't wink like Carey did. 'Good idea.'

'Look Alexis! More baby visitors!'

Alexis glanced over her shoulder and laughed when she saw Max had gone off to find his other siblings and brought back Dell and Rosie too. 'Have you come to rub the belly for good luck to win your video game?'

'No, but that is a genius idea!' Dell exclaimed, leaning over the back of the couch. 'And it's okay, Alexis, we're cool.'

'We're cool?'

Dell held out his fist and they bumped knuckles. 'Uh-huh. I can waste time being a punk or I can have fun with the baby. Is it kicking yet?'

'No, but I can feel it moving.'

'Mami says it's like feeling a goldfish wriggling around in your body,' Tessi asked. 'That sounds like it wouldn't be so much fun.'

'You'll understand a little better once you're older Tessi,' Alexis assured her, then felt her romantic heart sigh when Tessi wrapped her arms around Dell and the young man put his arm around her shoulders; it was such a married-already gesture.

'When we have babies, you're not gonna be a doofus like I've heard Mami say your daddy was right?'

'Right.'

'No Alexis!' Max howled in panic as he saw Alexis' eyes fill up with tears. 'No, no, no! No crying, it's your birthday party! Here I know!'

He raced off and returned seconds later with a box of tissues and a little wrapped gift. 'Here, do mine now, so there aren't any tears.'

'That's okay, Max, I'll wait until present time,' she replied, then took one of the tissues from the box he held beneath her nose. 'But I'll defenitely take some of these.


	34. Supporters II: 17 Weeks, 4 Days

'Alexis are you sure you're feeling okay?'

Alexis looked over at her husband from her spot on the couch as she watched Shane get ready for his night of cards at the loft with Dave, Ryan, Esposito and Castle. She loved him with all her heart and it annoyed her severely that she could hear herself spouting and snapping at him yet seemed to have no control over the filter mechanism between mouth and brain.

'Shane, I swear baby,' she said with strained patience, rubbing her bulbous stomach, 'you need to go.'

'I don't _need_ to go, I can-'

'Drive me crazy by constantly hovering.' Alexis arched an eyebrow, pulled out the heavy artillery. 'Do you want a rep like Ryan had when Jenny was pregnant with Dell?'

'No,' he replied immediately, then sighed. 'I've nervous, okay? There I said it. I'm a freaking basket-case.'

'Which is exactly why you need to go play with your friends tonight.'

'Can I have junk food too?'

'Sure, just don't make yourself sick.'

Shane laughed, then came over to rub her belly before laying his lips lightly against hers. 'I love you so much. Both of you.'

'We love you too. No go have some fun.'

Shane kissed her once more, then headed out to catch the subway to the loft. The guilt stuck to him like gum on the bottom of his shoes, which made him wrinkle his nose up as Alexis' voice sang its little song in his head. If he was like this when she was simply pregnant, what would he be like when the baby was actually here? When it was time to go out for a parents' date night? Or when the baby was going to school? Growing up, living a life.

'Okay, you need to chill out,' he told himself in the elevator. 'You're a grown up and going to be a father, and most importantly, you are not veering into Kevin Ryan territory.'

But the moment he was in the loft and listening to Esposito and Ryan talk about their kids, he was feeling rather icky again. Yes, he decided, he was going to be seven years old and used words on himself like 'icky' tonight.

'Man, Max is just getting cuter by the day,' Ryan commented, scooping up spinach dip onto a tortilla, then grinned when he saw Shane come in. 'Hey big papa, you gotta hear this one.'

'Max being adorable?' Shane inquired, looking with longing at the beer and wishing he could have one; he'd sworn off booze for a bit since his stomach kept turning flippy-flops at just about everything Alexis did these days. Another sign he needed to relax.

'He has been on the Internet with Tessi looking up information about famous people born in September.'

'Really?' The idea of it tickled Shane, that the kids were getting so involved in the baby's life before it was even kicking. 'What did they find?'

'Prince Harry, Charlie Sheen, Beyonce, Stephen King, and Andrea Boccelli were the main contenders with a little assistance from Meredeth.'

'What brought that on?' he asked.

'We were at Whole Foods in Union Square and Max heard some girls ahead of us in line talking about birthdays, and how one of them had the same birthday as Mere,' Esposito explain, 'so Max wanted to know what famous people your baby will be sharing a birthday with.'

'How's it going so far?' Ryan, ever the subtle one, wandered over with a couple of crackers full of dip. 'You guys started on names or a nursery or anything yet?'

'No,' Shane snapped. 'We haven't yet.'

'Whoa, buddy it's okay, just thought you guys would have-'

'Well we haven't.'

'Shane?' Esposito gave him a look. 'Are you okay?'

'No, I'm...I'm fine.'

'Bullshit.'

'I'm fine.'

Rather than get into a yes-no-yes-no arguement with his friend, Esposito went to the sideboard and found the Reed's ginger-beer that Shane enjoyed. He looked up when Castle sidled up, putting a plate of sandwiches down. 'Everything alright?'

'Your son-in-law is getting that I-just-want-Alexis-safe edge in his voice. He needs his men.'

'Ah.'

Esposito returned with the drink for the nerved-out daddy to be and wrapped an arm around his shoulders; it was a little awkward since Shane was about three inches taller than him. 'Sit,' he instructed him, steering him towards a chair. 'Speak.'

'I'm not Tortuga.'

'No, but you need to get this out, or you'll turn into Ryan.'

'Hey!' Ryan started to protest, then shook his head. 'Nah, he's right, dude. You don't wanna be me when you're a first-time daddy. I drove Jenny up a wall and she already had her hormones doing that for her. You need to relax, bro, what's got you so warped out?'

'I'm just...I...I'm scared to death I'm going to suck at this.'

'At what, being a daddy? Not possible.' Castle shook his head as he shuffled the deck. 'You are going to be an excellent father.'

'Castle, how do you know that?'

'Did you learn that from Kate?'

'What?'

'She still calls me Castle when she's cranky with me. But the point is, you will do much much better than you think you will.'

'But what if I don't warm the bottle properly and the baby gets sick? What if it bumps its head on teh crib because I didn't tuck it in properly? What if...' Shane tried to fight the crack in his voice. 'What if the baby likes Alexis better than me, and I can't comfort it when

'Welcome to being a first-time parent,' Esposito replied and pointed at the men around the table. 'Every last one of us would lie awake with these worries, and you think they're rough at forty-something, Castle did it the first time before he graduated university.'

'I'd gotten my degree but I hadn't actually received anything yet,' Castle explained to a silent Shane. He gave a little shrug. 'Evil Meredith wasn't into the whole college thing and she was intoxicating when we first met. After she left and it was me on my own with Alexis, I'd lie awake at night on those nights with my collicky daughter going how am I going to be good at this on my own?'

'Exactly,' Shane said, and then men exchanged understanding looks. 'What happens when the baby just wants mumum and not me? What do I do?'

'Hey, hey I'm here!'

Dave came through the door still in his work uniform, change of clothes in the backpack on his shoulder. 'Did I miss anything?'

'Shane is going through his 'will I be a good parent' paranoia stage,' Ryan informed him and Dave clapped a hand to his friend's shoulder.

'Totally natural, dude, but that's what we're for, to listen to you bitch and freak and then tell you stories of what we went through to make you feel better.' Dave looked around. 'Lemme change and grab a beer and you guys can catch me up.'


	35. Steps Forward

As Alexis had already booked the next day off of work from the clinic as a personal baby-related day, she made sure she was up before her husband. It wasn't a hard task; he'd been out until nearly one the night before and given that he'd texted her he was full of good advice from his bros. It had been on her mind until she'd shut her eyes for sleep and woken up to her snoring Israeli-Dutch baby-daddy.

Siging, pressing a hand to her back, she waited until she was in the kitchen before letting herself gas since the last time she didn't wake and woke Shane up after a double shift. 'Doesn't that smell lovely baby,' she murmured, rubbing her belly in circles as she looked in the fridge. She'd started putting more things on the top shelf since bending over was becoming more and mo re cumbersome.

'Bacon, lettuce, onions, peppers, tomatoes,' she murmured and turned on the skillet to make BLT stir-fry. She wondered if she had any of Meredeth's whole wheat pancake mix as she made Shane coffee and poured herself calcium-rich orange juice when she heard Shane stir and wander out. 'Morning Shane. You got in late last night.'

'I was having so much fun, wasn't I baby,' he murmured, giving Alexis a juicy kiss while he rubbed her belly. 'Yeah, I was. When you gonna start letting Papa feel you moving?'

'Soon, big guy. I hope,' she added on a laugh. 'Coffee's almost ready.'

'You sound like you've got something on your mind,' Shane told her.

'I'm tired of feeling scared. This is supposed to be fun so we need to get over ourselves and our hangups and let it be fun.'

'I agree.' Shane was ready to do a victory end dance of epic proportions to hear his sweet strawberry talk like this. More he was ecstatic to hear her mean it - they were both so nervous they were going to be awful first-time parents in a family of great mothers and fathers that they were letting their insecurities get the better of them. 'So how are we going to let ourselves have fun?'

'Well we're going pram shopping today, and then we are baby-sitting Jojo tonight, so we can use the in-between time to play the celebrity name game.'

'Celebrity name game? Where did you see that?'

'Oh, _Ellen_ on Youtube. It looks like so much fun.' Alexis nudged around the bacon in the pan, looked around. 'You want pancakes or toast?'

'I think we should have toast, make some nice BLTs for breakfast and then we can have whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes for lunch after pram shopping. Or we can treat ourselves and go to Body's after baby-shopping.'

'I think in the spirit of fun, we should go to Body's.'

'I agree. Here, sit down, baby, you've done enough already.'

As Alexis still wasn't all the way awake she had no problems letting Shane take over making breakfast. She sat down in her chair, put her feet up. 'Oh, that does feel better.'

'Refresh me again, why are we babysitting only Jojo tonight?' Shane asked as he nudged the bacon and vegetables around in the pan.

'Mom is working late to wrap up paperwork so things will move easier for the Hamptons weekend in two weeks, and Dad and RJ are doing their monthly bros-night together.' Alexis rubbed her belly, felt her stomach gurgle. 'What do you think about the name Melinda?'

'Too English. Jordana?'

'Too much like the actress Brewster. You know what we need?'

'What?'

'A murder board,' she replied so sincerely that when Shane whipped his head around he gave himself a crick in the neck.

'A murder board for the baby?'

'Yeah. When Mom was pregnant with RJ and Dad was on the job shadowing her, they hijacked her murder-board to settle some name debates. Mere said she and Javi used her drafting easel for the same thing for Tessi and Max too.'

'Huh.' Shane patted the bacon and veggies with a paper towel to soak up some of the grease. 'That does make sense. In the mean time, this is ready so you ready to eat?'

Before Alexis could open her mouth, her stomach gave a huge rumble, make her laugh. 'Guess you have your answer.'

* * *

'Oh boy. Where do we start?'

Shane nervously held his wife's hand as they looked around Little Speed Monster, the specialty section of Baby-Ware children's furniture emporium. It was like being eight years old all over again, and his father turning him loose in Toys R Us for his birthday with thirty dollars, back when thirty dollars was like a million to a little boy. He saw nothing but row after row of prams, walkers, strollers, buggies and other assorted transportatino devices for the under-five crowd.

'We should do like Mere and Javi did for their wedding,' Alexis decided. Start with what we don't want.'

'Nothing gender specific, then.'

'And no red.'

'No red?'

'Too harsh for a little one.'

'No red, then,' Shane agreed. He took her hand, steered her towards an aisle of the convertible three-in-one strollers. 'These look promising.'

'Oh, they do! I was checking out some like this on-line after I had my girls night with Lanie and Andrea and Sloan.'

Alexis looked around, flagged down a woman who looked liked she knew what she was doing. 'Miss? Can you tell us about these ones?'

The sales associate, whose nameplate read Barbra, gave her a sunny smile. 'I take it this is your first one?'

'Yes, due in September.'

'So you'll be in the market for something sturdy for fall weather. I would recommend these to consider first.'

She led them to a row of what looked like tricycles with popped-up RV tops to Shane's mind. 'These are our Roll-Steppers, they work as a pram, car-carrier- do you drive?'

'Not usually but we travel in cars with friends on a fairly regular basis,' he explained, and Barbra nodded.

'These models come with the detachable carrier that works as a travel bassinet, a car carrier and a baby pram. Then when the baby is big enough it turns into a stroller, and the tri-balance makes it great for running and jogging in the park.'

'I could take the baby over to Chelsea Park with Meredeth and Tortuga,' she smiled sweetly and Shane laughed.

'I think we might have a winner, Barbra.'

'Okay, well we have a variety of styles here, take them to our play-track and give them a go.'

'Play-track?' Shane's brow furrowed in question.

'To the edge of our show floor-' Barbra pointed them in the right direction '-and follow the arrows. We like to give our parents-to-be an idea of how to run or walk or whatever you like with the prams, get a feel for them.'

'The guys weren't kidding when they said pram-shopping is like buying a car these days.' Shane turned to Alexis with a wicked grin. 'You thinking what I'm thinking?'

'Pram race wars?'

'Loser buys the lunch.'


	36. Babysitters

'Jojo, you got everything ready bumble-bee?'

Castle waited for his youngest daughter to reply; rather than holler down the stairs like her brother did, Jojo appeared with her overnight bag and her 'purse' - a smaller lunch-kit sized tote-bag that what Jojo called her essentials. To this particular four year old, essentials meant tissues, a box of crayons and sketch pad, a Doctor Seuss book and a small book of pictures that included her siblings, parents and other friends, particularly Trini, Nessa and Heddie. She sent her father a sunny smile and patted her bags.

'All set daddy, I even added some bumpy treats for Alexis! She needs to not be so busy all the time so I put some relaxing games in my bag.'

'Alright.' As Castle knew he'd earn an eye-roll and scoffed response if he asked any further - a move she'd inherited straight from her mother - he hollered up the stairs once more, this time for his son. 'RJ, let's go! Alexis and Shane are waiting for Jojo and we can't be late to see our movie!'

'Okay!'

To his surprise RJ came downstairs, also ready to go, but unlike his sister who went straight for putting on her shoes, he went into the kitchen, began to put together what appeared to be a cookie gift basket. 'Just one minute, Daddy, I need Jojo to take this to our bumpy nephew.'

'Niece, RJ,' Jojo told him. 'Alexis is guh-rowing a lit-tle girl in there.'

'Nope, sorry Jojo, this time you are wrong,' RJ told her; Castle stepped in before a fight could break out.

'Boy or girl, those cookies will be great and those are also going to be the thing that makes us late, so hurry up!'

'I'm coming!' RJ raced out of the kitchen, passed the tupperware to his sister. 'Okay, bumblebee, we are ready to go!

* * *

Jojo loved when they got to go on the subway - it made her feel so grown up to swipe her child's Metro Pass through the slotty thing in the subway gate - but even better was when those subway rides ended in visiting her big sister. It was so cool she was going to have a little baby of her own, and Jojo had been consulting with all of her friends exactly what her job as the auntie should be. Auntie Jojo, she thought with a little smile, that had to be the best-est job ever of life.

And Jojo realized when Alexis opened the door to her apartment that day wasn't as far away as everyone thought it was because Alexis' belly was looking even bigger than it had a week ago.

'Hey sister, come on in! Hope you're hungry, we're just sitting down to have dinner.'

'I buh-rought dessert. RJ made you a cookie box.'

'That's very nice of you RJ,' Alexis smiled at her brother, not surprised when he grinned at her sheepishly; she refocused her attention on her father while her brother gave her a hug around the middle to cuddle her belly. 'You guys off for your bros night?'

'Yep, unless RJ here wants to keep playing with the foetus.'

'No, no, just excited there will be one more boy.'

Jojo had to roll her eyes. 'Girl, RJ, she has a girl in there.'

'Right, that's our cue to go,' Castle chuckled, giving both his daughters a quick kiss, and a pet for the bumpy. 'Take care, don't work too hard.'

Jojo looked around, sniffed the air. 'Mmm, suh-mells yummy, what are we having?'

'We are having grilled turkey breasts, spinach and goat cheese salad, bread and asparagus and broccoli soup.'

'Are those all safe for the baby?'

Shane, who was manning the stove and looking after the turkey smiled at his little sister-in-law. 'All very good and healthy for the baby. And guess what?'

'What?'

'We've got the Wii all set up to play later too.'

'Yea!' Jojo did a happy dance. She loved playing Wii but wasn't allowed to unless she played with her brother or someone else bigger than her. Shane and Alexis definitely qualified as bigger someones. 'But nothing that will hurt the bumpy if Alexis plays too.'

Shane had to laugh; Beckett hadn't been kidding when she'd said that Jojo was concerned about the baby hurting itself. 'Not to worry, we'll be fine. Can you help Alexis set the table?'

'No, I'll do it! I'm a big girl and Alexis has a bumpy guh-rowing inside her! I can do it!'

True to her word, Jojo put all the proper place settings on teh table, placemats and all, and went to the fridge to find the milk and cheese and other sundry items needed for their supper, which made Alexis smile. Her sister was so determined to make sure she was healthy and kept the baby safe, it was very sweet. Everyone always liked to comment how Jojo was so much like Beckett it was a little frightening but Alexis could see the shades of her father coming out, particularly when they'd finished their feast of a meal and Alexis was washing the dishes; she'd been sitting for so long today she just needed to stretch her legs.

'Alexis! What are you doing!'

She glanced over her shoulder to see Jojo's eyes round and bugging out at her, a finger pointed at the dishes. 'What's wrong, Jojo?'

'That! You are puh-reg-ah-nent! You can't be doing that! You need to rest!'

'Jojo, you know we're also going to play Wii sports later right? That-'

'No!' Jojo all but howled it, and Alexis looked to her husband for a little help.

'I got this one.' Shane, who had been setting up the Wii game for them, patted the space beside him on the couch. 'Jojo, come on over, little lady.'

'But...but-'

'Jojo, come on.'

Jojo grudgingly listened to him, plunked herself down on the couch. 'You can let her do that, Shane! She needs to relax and rest!'

'Jojo the baby is only this big right now,' Shane held his hands about six inches apart. 'It's mostly worried about Alexis eating right and growing bigger.'

'Exactly! If she is up and moving aroun' all the timeso is the bumpy and then the baby will bumpy its teeny-tiny lit-tle head and hurt itself!'

'No, that won't happen Jojo, Alexis takes very good care of the baby. And part of doing that is making sure she stays good and healthy too,' Shane explained patiently. 'If Alexis' body is strong, that means the baby will grow up properly, and that means Alexis has to do small exercises like walking and yoga and swimming, and we're going to play some Wii bowling later too, so she doesn't get bored doing the same stuff all the time.'

The little girl gave him the eagle eye. 'Are you sure?'

'Yep, that's what Doctor Harvey told us to do.' At this, Shane could actually see the young lady breath a sigh of relief. 'You're good now?'

'Uhuh!' Jojo turned towards her sister. 'How long until we get to play?'


	37. System Shocks: 18 Weeks, 3 Days

Shane awoke Thursday morning to the feel of Alexis' hands on his cheeks. His eyelids fluttered open and he saw her smiling at him, the only thing she was wearing it seemed.

'Good morning, Doctor Weaver,' she purred at him. 'Wanna start the day off with a bang?'

'That may be the cheesiest invitation you've ever offered me for sex.'

'That a no?'

Shane simply scooted closer, tugged off his boxers with a few quick jerks and slipped his hand between her thighs to test her readiness. 'Do I look like a stupid man?'

'Not at all.'

'How do you want to do it today?' he asked her, and Alexis wriggled a little.

'Spoons, baby. I'm not ready for getting up just yet.'

'Just getting off?'

She grinned, nipped his lower lip. 'You read my mind.'

Shane put his hands on her body, stroking and caress all her newly discovered curves. Pregnancy looked great on her at eighteen weeks, and she was definitely in full baby bloom now. He cupped her breast, teasing her nipple into a little peak; his tongue jutted out to taste it and Alexis let out a strangled moan. She clutched her fingers into the soft, unflexed muscles of his shoulders as she fought to win over her hormones.

'Shane, I'm...I won't last long, I need you inside me.'

'Okay, my sweetheart. Here.'

He rolled her over gently, positioned himself to slip in behind her. She was warm and wet; the feel of her was different but still all Alexis as he slipped in and out of her. He could hear her little moans and mewls of pleasure, occasionally interrupted by what he knew was a sob, so Shane pressed a kiss to her neck and moved even faster; her sobs died into sighs. When he felt her come in one red-hot avalanche as her salls clenched around hm, he followed her over seconds later before dropping his lips to her shoulder to taste her sweat-dwed skin.

'Oh, thank you Shane,' she murmured as he slipped out of her so Alexis could roll over to face him. 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.'

'For what?'

'That is exactly how I needed you to love me this morning. I needed to feel sexy and beautiful and now I'll be smiling all day.'

'Hopefully I will too.' Shane kissed her, looked at the clock. 'And if I don't get up now, I'll be late.'

'Okay.' Alexis curled her legs on her side, imagined she was holding her body like a Greek goddess might when she was pregnant. A red-headed Greek goddess, she thought with a little smile, since that was how Shane made her feel. 'I'm at the clinic all day, no hospital or parole board visits on the books so if you can swing it, you want to have lunch?'

'You betcha.' Shane leaned in, kissed Alexis' belly, then her lips. 'I love you both, and I'll see you today. I hope.'

* * *

It turned out wake-up sex was the high point of his day, Shane thought when his communicator went off; he was supposed to be in the lab all day today so he'd be home on time to spend his evening getting prepared for court on Monday, but they were short-handed since . 'I'm not going,' he told the inanimate object, but answered anyways. 'This is Weaver.'

He took the call from dispatch, groaning as he checked the time. All he wanted was to spend the day in the lab, and he was being disappointed before nine in the morning; so not cool. But he did his job and got his shit together to go to his fresh crime scene.

It was past rush hour so the traffic wasn't as snarly as it could have been but still a bitch since he and his assistant Gabe Watson were heading towards Times Square. The OCME wagon stopped and Shane had to arch an eyebrow where he saw the crime-scene taped off.

'Flashdance? We've got a DB at a gentlemen's club?'

He got out, caught the eye of the uniform clearly posted to watch for him, and Shane held up his ID. 'Officer, what's the deal?'

'Male DB, about sixty-five years old found stabbed to death in the alley behind the club. Dancers getting off found him, called it in.'

'He had no wallet?'

'Nope, looks like someone did him in the alley when he tried to leave without paying,' the uniform replied.

Shane ducked under the tape, sighed as he pulled out his latex gloves from his case. The man was about six-foot-one, wearing khakis with dress shoes; he recognized the shirt as signature Hilfiger collection, and the shoes were Bruno Maglis. An easy mark for a dancer and her bouncer getting stiffed on the bill. Bad joke, he admonished himself.

'Anyone touch the body?' Shane asked as Gabe snapped the photos for the crime-scene file.

'No.'

'Gabe you got what you need?'

'Yeah, you can roll him to do your thing, Doctor Weaver.'

Shane put his hands on the stiffened shoulders to roll the body to lie face up on the alley floor, and let out a sharp cry. 'Oh no! No! No, fuck me, no!'

He shot up from his crouch, looked at the officer who had lead him past the tape. 'Who is the homicide officer tagged for this detail?'

'Kate Beckett and her boys from the Twelfth, since this is the edge of their jurisdiction. Why?'

'Go to the edge of the tape, do not let them past you. I don't care if God Almighty comes as Detective Beckett's second in command. Go. Now!'

Shane barked it out, peeled off his latex gloves; Gabe looked at him with a weird look as Shane fought not to throw up. 'Doctor Weaver, are you okay?'

'No. No I'm not.' Shane looked over his shoulder at the body, sighed as he fought not only the nausea but the tears. 'Jesus Jim, what the fuck happened?'

Shane drew in a deep breath, and had never been so happy to hear Beckett's voice barking out orders at the uniform ten feet away. He composed himself as best as he could and went to face his mother-inlaw. Sure enough, she was standing there with hands slapped on her hips in angry impatience and flanked by Ryan and Esposito like sentries.

'I don't give a rat's ass what the ME said, we are the ranking officers and I am the primary,' she snarled at him, and Shane nudged the uniform aside; he was more than ready to take the furnace blast of her temper since he knew he'd break her heart in about thirty seconds time. 'Doctor Weaver, what is-'

'I can't let you back there, Kate,' he told her quietly.

'Bullshit, you do not have the authority to-'

'Kate, shut up and listen to me. I can't let you back there. None of you can go back there.'

Ryan moved closer, leaned in. He could hear the stress in Shane's voice and realized it was someone they knew. 'Shane what's going on?'

'I...The body...It's James Harvey.'


	38. Questions

'No.'

Beckett pressed a hand to her mouth, jaw going slack with shock. 'No, Shane, are you sure?'

'I saw his face. He's Alexis' baby doctor so I know that face in my sleep.' Shane shook his head as he fought to keep his voice steady. 'It's him.'

'Fuck,' Esposito wheezed out. He planted his hands on his hips, hung his head. 'How do we do this? He brought our kids into the world, how do we tell them?'

'We do it because he brought our children into the world.' Ryan gave Beckett and Shane an icy stare. 'He gave us our children, some of whom were hard, almost dangerous births, the least we can do for his family is catch this bastard.'

'I have to pass this to another ME. I can't do the autopsy, medical ethics and all,' Shane pointed out. 'And between the three of you, he delivered all seven of your kids.'

'Six,' Ryan corrected him. 'Dell wasn't one of his patients. It's so easy to forget that.'

'Fine, then you're taking point on this one, Kevin,' Beckett told him without a moment's hesitation. When the only thing Beckett could think of was her daughter and her unborn grandbaby, and their reaction to the news, she knew she was unfit to investigate this case. 'I'm way too close, and so is Esposito.'

'Agreed.' Esposito nodded, tried to look around Shane but the stealthy doctor blocked his path.

'Javi, you don't need to see him like that.'

'Okay.'

Shane's phone signaled, and he pulled it out of his pocket. 'Pearlmutter is on his way, he's taking this one personally,' he informed the cops as he read the text. In the meantime I have to get over to the clinic to tell Lex.

Now tears threatened to spill from Beckett's eyes; she could count on one hand the number of times she'd cried on a crime scene that wasn't her mother's. 'God, Shane, how are you going to tell Alexis?'

'All I know is I need to get over there now. I can't let her hear this through the grapevine, she'd never forgive me.'

'Of course, of course,' Beckett nodded, then turned to look at her men. 'We are moving on this now.'

* * *

Shane usually enjoyed visiting his wife's workspace as it truly lived up to its name - the Healing Hands counseling clinic was a practice that specialized in child and adolescent outreach with associations to both the NYPD's Young Offender Rehabilitation programs and Stuyvesant Memorial Hospital, and even in the lobby one got the feeling this was a place to get better.

Or at least that what it normally felt like. Today he walked into Healing Hands with a heavy heart, approaching the reception desk like it was the gallows for his own death. The man behind the high faux-wood counter-top was dressed in a natty blue oxford and tie combo gave him a patient smile and spoke in a soothing, welcoming voice.

'Welcome to Helping Hands, what can I assist you with?'

'I need to speak to Doctor Weaver right now please.'

'I'm sorry, sir, she is in session at the moment. Can I take a memo?'

'I'm her husband, the other Doctor Weaver, and it's an emergency.'

The man gave Shane a look, as if seeing the urgency of it in his eyes and nod briskly. 'Excuse me a moment.' He picked up a phone, dialed Alexis' extension. 'Hello, Doctor Weaver, yes I know you're in session but your husband is here and says it's an emergency. Very well, I'll send him back momentarily.'

He hung up, pointed Shane towards the corridor when Shane followed the short maze of hallways to the door that read 'Dr. Alexis Weaver, HBSc., M.D., APA' on the nameplate; on any other day the sight of it would have him beaming with pride but not today. Today he just needed Alexis and tried to think of the easiest way to break her heart while he waited in the chair beside her doorway.

A few minutes later, the door opened and she came out with a young woman about fifteen years old, reassuring her they would continue their appointment in twenty minutes and for her to just wait patiently. She turned to Shane, one hand on the fourteen-week bump she sported beneath her summer office-wear top.

'Come on in, Shane.'

She turned, and he understood how pissed she was to have a session interrupted, not for herself but for her patient. Shane loathed it when he was interrupted in the middle of a particularly gruesome autopsy he just wanted to finish and be done with. Alexis shut the door behind him, and stood in front of her desk, sipping her cooling tea.

'Okay, Shane, what is so important that you had be interrupt a session with one of my most difficult patients?' she asked in an urgent tone.

'Alexis, it's bad.'

Right away, Alexis could tell something was seriously wrong. Her hand flew to her heart, down to her bump to protect it. 'My mom? My dad? Oh, god, RJ and Jojo?' Alexis radar flew right off the scale and she took a step closer to him. 'Is something wrong, did something happen to them? I should-'

'No they're fine, same with Miss Agnes and your grandparents.' Shane loathed himself for sounding so brusque but he knew he had to let her know her family was fine first. ' Lex, I...I was called to a scene this morning, a man had been stabbed to death behind a strip club just off of Times Square.'

'Okay.'

'Lex.' Shane took her hand, laced his fingers with hers. 'It was Jim Harvey.'

'What?'

'It was Jim Harvey. Someone murdered him last night.'

Alexis felt her brain go numb, then fuzzy as she tried to compute was her husband was saying, and failed miserably. 'No...that's...no. No,' she repeated defiantly. 'What would he be doing in a place like that?'

'That's what your mom and the Ry-Sposito monster are going to find out.'

'No. Oh God. Oh, God! No! This is so not fair!' Alexis pressed a hand to her mouth, rubbed her belly protectively. 'He's supposed to take of us, of me! What are we going to do?'

'It's okay, Lex.' Shane pulled her close, pressed a kiss to her head as she crumbled into tears on his shoulder. 'We'll figure it out.'

'I...I need to...just give me a moment.' Alexis unwrapped her arms from around her husband's waist, went to her desk phone to dial reception. 'Steve, it's Doctor Weaver. Can you please collect Miss Collins and clear my afternoon? I've had a family emergency and I...thank you. Yes I'll let you know.'

She hung up the phone, looked at Shane as she continued to rub her pregnant belly. 'Who's going to look after our baby now Shane?'

'We'll worry about that in a day or two. Right now, we need to get to the loft to be there with the rest of the family.'


	39. Possibilities

It did not take long for the news of Harvey's murder to spread through the Twelfth Precinct family. By the time they made it to the loft, they were greeted by a numb-looking Castle, heard the sound of the children crying quietly in the living room.

'Lexie,' he murmured and held his daughter close, rubbed his hands over her belly. 'It's okay, you and the baby will be fine.'

'Daddy.'

'We'll get you some tea. Kate's already home, she's with your brother and sister, and they really want to see you.'

Alexis nodded, walked over to see her siblings; she wasn't surprised to find Jojo sitting in her mother's lap, eyes streaming while RJ sat hugging Martha around the middle. 'Hey guys,' she said softly, and at her voice Jojo's tears started up once more.

'Oh Mumum, it...it...it...' She couldn't get the words out before dissolving into sobs once more, make Alexis kick up once more. Lowering her pregnant self to the couch beside RJ who shifted his stance so he could hug his big sister.

'Alexis, it is so so horrible, he...he was so nice who would want to hurt him?' RJ asked her in such a sweetly innocent voice that Alexis didn't bother hiding her grief as she cuddled her brother close.

'I don't know, but you know that Kevin and Javi are going to catch him.'

'And Mumum, she's the b-es-est,' Jojo warbled; as Beckett didn't have the heart to tell her just yet that she was leaving this case with her boys she just comforted her baby girl. 'And what happens to your bumpy baby now Alexis?'

'What do you mean, sweetheart?'

'Who will be its doctor now?'

'That's a question for another day, bumblebee,' Alexis replied gently, which only served to set Jojo off again.

'But the baby needs a doctor!' she wailed and collapsed against Beckett, who stroked her child's hair gently. 'Mumum, bring him back for Alexis and Shane and the baby! They need him!'

'Jojo.' Castle came over, set down Alexis' tea on the table before picking up his little girl and consoling her gently while Beckett moved closer to their other daughter.

'Alexis, how are you feeling?'

'I'm just trying to process it all, but mostly I just want to make sure that I don't hurt the baby.'

'I know, sweetie.' Beckett rubbed her back, let out a little sob when RJ rubbed Alexis' pregnant belly.

'It's okay baby, we won't let anything happen to you,' he murmured to it. 'I know Alexis and Shane are you mumum and papa but we love you too, so just listen to your mumum, okay? She is very good at taking care of you.'

'RJ-'

'Don't worry Alexis,' RJ continued, turned his tear-stained face up to his big sister. 'You won't lose the baby and not be able to find it this time.'

At this Alexis broke down once more and held onto her brother. 'Oh, RJ, I didn't think you remembered that, you were so little.'

'You were sad, of course I remember, Alexis.' He gave a little shrug. 'Shane is your hubby and I'm your brother, it's our job to make you not sad.'

They sat together, trying to sort through the horrible shock of it all and trying to figure out just how the hell to make sense of it. Shane watched them from the kitchen, knowing what his wife needed the most was her family.

'She'll be fine, son,' Jim told him as he poured coffees for the grown-ups, tea for Alexis, juice for the little ones. 'Babies are resilient little things.'

'That's not the part I'm worried about. Thanks.' Shane took the coffee he offered, sipped it sadly. 'She really liked Harvey as a doctor, she was comfortable around him given the fact she's already had a miscarriage before.'

'Understandable.'

'Now she feels a little lost and alone as a pregnant woman. I love her with all my heart but I'm a man, I don't have a uterus so I don't really have a sweet fucking clue what's going on in her boy right now. She needs someone with medical training who she trusts and respects to take away that feeling.'

Jim nodded, drank his own coffee. 'What about that fellow that took care of your friend in the Hamptons? Didn't he come to you from Harvey's recommendation?'

'He did, but...' Shane trailed off, shook his head. 'Right now I think we all want to focus on finding out who killed one of the best men I've ever met for no apparent damn good reason.'

'Then maybe you should take a swing by the police precinct, see what you can do to help. If you don't feel like you can help your wife this way, find another way.'

Shane got his chance to take Jim Beckett's advice when Alexis said she wanted to go home on her own just to clear her head for a little bit. As he understood this was in no way a rejection of his love and support, Shane used the opportunity to go to the Twelfth and see what he could find out to take back to his wife.

He found Esposito at his desk, looking as raw and ravaged as he'd ever seen the man, but there was the steely glint of determination in his eyes when he looked up as Shane approached.

'Hey bro, where's your baby mama?'

'She wanted to go for a walk to get some air on her own so I thought I'd swing by, see if there was anything here I could take back to her. Even a little something.'

'We found the murder weapon and possible motive.'

'That's two very big somethings.' Shane sat down in Ryan's empty chair, wheeled it over. 'What-'

'Butterfly knife found in a trash-can across the street from the strip-club. Thank god garbage day is tomorrow. But more importantly, we found out that Harvey's middle daughter, Jessica, has a criminal record.'

'Seriously?'

'Drugs, first pot then speed to study at all hours, so she could cover up the fact she was saving for grad school tuition by being a dancer at the club. She was busted and ordered by the courts into rehab and if she could show she'd been clean for thirty-six consecutive months, the charge would be expunged from her record. Her family stepped in and intervened on her behalf, and she was two months away from her final court date.'

'Wow. Guess you really only do see a fraction of people you think you know.'

'Sometimes, yeah,' Esposito agreed, dragging a hand over his face. 'Never would have guessed he'd dealt with this kind of heartbreak.'

'Yo, Espo!'

'Don't say 'yo,' Ry, you sound even whiter,' Esposito told his partner who was marching towards him from the visitor's lounge; he recognized the woman behind him as the dancer who'd discovered Harvey's body.

'Think we might have our guy.'

'Let's roll.'


	40. Silver Linings: 19 Weeks, 4 Days

The days leading up to Doctor James Gordon Harvey's funeral were a blur filled with dreadful anticipation. It would be healing, Alexis knew, to the family, the friends and the colleagues but there would still be holes, and grief, and guilt. The media had been as gentle as they could be once Captain Karpowski had released her statement to the press and fortunately, they'd bitten in exactly the right way, playing up the sympathetic angle.

James Harvey, dedicated doctor and family man, had gone to the club not for personal entertainment but to confront one Jordan Gregg, street name Juicy-Jay, known hard-ass and drug dealer and his daughter's former supplier. He'd been harassing her on her way to and from her college classes - she was back to being a top student living at home to stay clean and focused with the love and support of her family. The drug-dealer had been trying to entice her back into her old habits but Jessica had stayed strong and when Juicy-Jay had knocked her around, Harvey had gone to confront the asshole.

For his troubles of being a man just trying to protect his little girl, James Harvey had ended up stabbed six times behind the club and left in the dirty rainwater while Juicy-Jay had gone inside and conducted business as usual, making three deals.

The DA also hadn't played it down and stated that the charge could be construed as manslaughter either, which was another brick in the wall they were trying to rebuild. The butterfly knife was easily identified with Juicy-Jay's prints all over it and the fact other patrons of the club knew he kept it on him regularly and used it to taunt potential threats to his business pushed him squarely out of the 'whatever's handy as a weapon' category. It had also helped the club was already under investigation and the narc-squad gave Ryan and Esposito everything they had on Jordan Gregg to wrap him up in enough charges to imprison him until doomsday, Alexis thought as she studied the weeping widow from her spot across the church's common room. That would give Missus Harvey - God, she couldn't even remember the woman's name right now - some closure to know that as they buried one of the best doctors the city had known in quite some time the bastard responsible was beginning his lengthy rot in hell.

But none of those little details would bring the man back or erase the guilt from Jessica's mind. Alexis rubbed her belly as she remembered the young woman's eulogy about her father, and everyone heard loud and clear the subtext - if not for me he'd still be alive.

'Here, baby.'

Alexis glanced up, saw her husband there in mourning black, his black yarmulke pinned to his hair. He held out a plate of crudites, cheese and crackers to her along with a second Doctor Pepper from the bar. She ignored the food and went straight for the sugary bubbles. 'Thanks, Shane. I'm just feeling so inside out right now, I don't know if I can handle much more church food.'

'I know.' Shane sat down beside her, rubbed his hand over her belly. 'The Espositos are having a barbecue at their place for dinner tonight, have all the precinct family back, if you're up for going.'

'I'd like that very much. Oh boy.'

'What?'

Alexis pointed towards the little group of children coming towards them - Nessa, Heddie, Max and Jojo all in pint-sized black dress clothes, Max with a fistful of napkins in case any of them started tearing up once more. Despite the ever-expanding bulk of Alexis' belly, Heddie crawled right into her lap and hugged her tightly.

'Oh, Alexis, it is too, too sad!' Max sighed, passing Nessa and Jojo napkins as they sniffled. 'Doctor Harvey's the best!'

'Bes' ev-ah,' Heddie agreed solemnly. 'Wha' happen bumpy now?'

'It's going to be fine,' Alexis assured the little girl, patting her strawberry blonde curls.

'But...how it be 'kay wit' no dotta?'

'Heddie, we talked about this,' Jojo reminded her. 'Remember? We talked to Suh-loanie and she said that Doctor Bishop who looked after Nate is going to be working with all of the mamas who asked Doctor Harvey to be their baby's doctor.'

'But this a diff-ent bumpy!' Heddie's embrace tightened. 'How he know whatta do?'

'Because Doctor Bishop does what Doctor Harvey did, he takes care of bumpies all day long,' Nessa reminded her sister and Heddie looked at them both before looking to Max.

'Tha' tah-roo Poh-fiss-ah Mass?'

'Yes it is.' Max nodded seriously, blue eyes serious behidn his glasses. 'Don't worry, best girl buddy, the baby will be fine.'

'Okay.' Heddie kissed Alexis' tummy and snuggled her cheek against it. 'No worry, bumpy, we take care. No be 'faid.'

She wriggled off of Alexis' lap, took Max and Jojo's hands; Alexis waited until they were out of earshot before murmuring to Shane, 'I can't stay here much longer without breaking.'

'It's okay, I know. We'll go home soon.'

* * *

When they did arrive home, the first thing Shane did was tug at his tie; he wanted that damn noose off and a good cold beer. The Espositos had it right, having everyone over for a big dinner that evening. Normal, delicious Meredeth cooking to help get over the grief would be just what the doctor ordered.

Bad pun, he told himself as he sat down with Alexis on the couch, propped his feet on the table.

'What time are we supposed to be at Mere and Javi's?' she asked him, linking hands with him and rubbing her belly.

'Seven. I need a nap before then.'

'That makes three of us.' Alexis propped her head on her husband's shoulder. 'I miss him already.'

'I know, we all do sweetie. Don't put too much pressure on yourself to adjust right away to Bishop's style, though, it's like any life transition.'

Alexis said nothing, let herself absorb Shane's advice as she continued to move their hands in circles over the roundness of her belly, then froze; her eyes went round as saucers. 'Oh! Did you feel that, Shane?'

'I sure did!'

Alexis put her hand under her navel, felt it again. Then she was on her feet in a pregnant flash, strugglign to get out of her dress. 'Help me with this thing. Stockings too.'

'Okay.'

When she was in her underwear, she tugged at Shane's shirt and tie. 'This too.'

'Alexis-'

'Just humour me.'

Shane remained silent; when he was in his boxers and tattoos, he knelt with his wife in the middle of the living room floor, running his hands over the miracle of her body as he felt the bumps from within.

'It's moving!' Alexis cried softly. 'The baby's finally moving!'

'It is,' he cried with her, and spoke to his unborn child. 'Hey tiny, it's Papa, you and me finally get to do some bonding huh?'

Shane felt one nudge under hes hand again and he smiled. 'I'll take that as a yes.'


	41. Worries Gone

'Hey Kate?'

'Yeah?' Beckett looked over at Ryan in the morgue's elevator. She waited a beat. 'There a caboose on that train of thought?'

'Sorry, got distracted.' Ryan held up his phone. 'Dell's already packing for the Hamptons on the weekend and wants me to ask Esposito if Tessi is big enough to go swimming without her life-jacket yet.'

Beckett shoved open the doors and wasn't surprised to see Shane in his street clothes and gathering up files. 'Done for the night?'

'Yes I am, I have your report right here-' Shane passed off the dark purple folder to his mother-in-law '- and now I'm off to meet the new OBGYN for Alexis.'

'Is she feeling better?' Ryan asked, leaning over Beckett's shoulder to read the report.

'Much. I think the funeral helped and feeling the baby kick too.'

''Dell's running the baby pool for the kids, and he says the only taker for a little girl is Jojo. Eighteen kids and they all say Alexis is growing a boy except one.'

RJ and Jojo are over the moon, but they cannot stop bickering over the boy-girl debate,' Becket laughed, and Shane grinned, shouldered his bag.

'Alright, take care guys, I gota split or I'll be late.

Despite the conversation putting him behind schedule slightly, Shane arrived at Saint Vincent's clinic to find Alexis finishing changing into the paper-thin hospital gown. Her hands ran in figure-eight patterns over her belly.

'The baby's very nervous along with me,' she told him, after he greeted them both with a kiss.

'Baby, you know Mumum only wants the best for you right?'

Alexis smiled as she tried not to let her anxiety get the better of her - she had no idea what to expect from Doctor Henry Bishop, only that he was probably one of the best if Harvey had recommended him when Sloan was in dire straits.

The door opened and the man himself came in dressed in powder blue scrubs; Alexis decided right away his name suited him, as he looked exactly like Lance Heinriksen when he played Bishop the android opposite Sigourney Weaver in _Aliens. _He had a thin scholarly face with wiry dark hair and equallt dark eyes behind round rimless glasses. But for some inexplicable reason though, the part of him that made Alexis feel most comforted was the scrub cap he wore - it was black with Day-Glo stick figures dancing the Macarena from his left ear to the right. Sense of humour is key, she thought.

'Doctors Weaver, hello.' Bishop greeted them warmly with a shake of the hands, and he pulled over a wheelie-footed stool as he looked over Alexis' file in his hands. 'I'm sorry we are meeting under such tragic circumstances but I want you to know Alexis my main priority is to keep you and the baby healthy and get you through the delivery with few to no complications.'

He scanned the chart, pursed his lips as he nodded. 'So far, you've been very vigilent in your prenatal care, which is very good. I still want to do the amniocenticis today, but before we get that personal I'd just like to talk.'

Shane sat with them, watching as Alexis' trepidation unwound itself one knot at a time. 'Like over tea and cookies or an oral history of how Alexis has been feeling?'

'Tea and cookies would be nice,' Bishop laughed, 'but we'll stick with prenatal care for now. How are you feeling overall?'

'Pretty good,' Alexis replied, 'though I've been getting hiccups a lot lately. That's normal right?'

'Certainly, particularly if you like spicy foods. I take it that's a yes?' Bishop inquired with a small smile as Alexis traded a sheepish look with her husband.

'Let's just say Thursday night has becoem known as hot-wings night in our house.'

'With salads and fibre too.'

'Of course. How was your morning sickness?'

'Horrible but it didn't last long. I stopped having regular vomiting around ten weeks or so, just before Saint Patrick's Day.'

'Good, good.' Bishop made a few scratched notes, then patted her knee. 'Okay, we'll do a full physical and then the scariest part before the birth, the amniocenticis. Up on the scale, there's a good girl.'

As he watched his wife get her examination, Shane had to admit he was impresed with Bishop. When he meant full physical he really meant full - the new doctor measured her weight, her blood pressure, even took a blood panel to look for any anomalies that could be fixed with diet or vitamin supplements. Finally when Bishop did his examintion of her uterus and checked for hemmerhoids, it felt like they had found a good doctor-patient rhythm which maed Shane very happy.

He moved in close to hold Alexis' hand as Bishop administered the local anesthetic for the amniocenticis. 'It's okay Alexis, baby, I'm right here,' he murmured, watching her close her eyes and kissing her brow.

'Okay.'

'I take it when we get to discussing a birth plan, you're not going the natural route like your friend Lindsay Brennan?' Bishop inquired as he began the procedure.

'All due respect to her, she's crazy,' Alexis replied, keeping her eyes shut. 'If possible can you give me her drugs too?'

'Oh, one of those,' he chuckled.

'I don't need to feel everything to know it's a miracle, because it will be a miracle I survive it.' Alexis pouted to Shane. 'I did not get Dad's sturdy hips. Thanks bio-mom.'

'Your hips are just right,' Shane reassured her, looked over to where Bishop withdrew the needle from his wife's belly and shuddered; he'd have to man up for the birth. Thank god for Lamaze classes. 'It's done, my scrumptious strawberry. You're in the green zone.'

Alexis nodded and sat up, lowering her gown for a little modesty, despite the fact Bishop had just seen her lady-bits up close and personal. 'So when will we know the results, Doctor?'

'A week, so I'd like to schedule you in for an appointment next Friday morning to my regular office hours.' Bishop wrote the label up on the capped vial, clicked his pen shut. 'That concludes our regularly scheduled boardcast day. Did you have any questions for me?'

'Yes, are you keeping your own office or will you be moving into Harvey's space?' Shane wanted to know.

'I'll be in the building across from Saint Vincent's but not his quarters. I was going to be moving into his building anyways, since the majority of my patients come through Saint Vincent's and my daughter is using my old office for her own OBGYN practice.' Bishop sighed when his pager went off; he checked the message and opened the door. 'And that would be a patient ready to have a baby. I'll see you next Friday morning.'

Alexis waited until Shane shut the door of the exam room for her to begin changing before she spoke. 'I like him.'


	42. Brothers: 20 Weeks, 1 Day

Shane stepped off the elevator into the Homicide bullpen of the Twelfth precinct and nearly walked straight past the break-room for Beckett's desk when he stopped short and changed directions.

'Hey!' He said jovially when he popped his head into the room, and saw Alexis having a hot drink with Esposito. 'What's got you here?'

'I've got court coming up on the gang-banger case, remember the one where we got called out in the middle of the night?' Alexis asked, stirring her hot cider with her plastic straw. 'Anyways, Javi asked me to pop by to pick up the finalized reports and he offered me a cup of tea.'

'That's how I got her to meet me the first time too, bro,' Shane teased his friend, and pulled up a chair on the other side of Alexis.

'And we were just talking about cards night, too,' Esposito added. 'You in Doctor Weaver?'

'Yeah, count me in, I'm off tonight.'

'I meant this Doctor Weaver.' Esposito wrapped his arm around Alexis' shoulders and gave her a brotherly squeeze. 'We want to give the hubby's perspective on a couple things sans you.'

'Sans me?'

'Relax, bro, she won't spill your bedroom style to us the way she does when all our women get together, just a little bit of what to expect from you.'

Alexis grinned at Esposito. 'It'll be fun. Especially when Shane hears what Mom and Mere and the others have planned for him.'

'Planned for me?' Shane glared at Esposito who just grinned behind his coffee cup. 'What means 'planned for me', what the fuck did you do?'

'Oh!' Alexis let out a sharp cry and Shane immediately went on red alert.

'What is it, you okay?'

'Don't swear around the baby, it kicks me like a mule whenever it hears bad words.'

'Okay, okay. What did you do, Javi?'

'You'll see.' Esposito checked his watch, gave Alexis' temple a little kiss. 'Dave's place tonight, seven o'clock. Come hungry.'

'Espo, I'm five months pregnant, I'm always hungry.'

* * *

Alexis wasn't quite sure what to anticipate going to an all-boys night of cards. She understood the purpose of it and was surprised it had taken them this long to think of doing this. Or maybe they'd just saved it up since they all had multiple children themselves now.

She knocked on the door, giggling when she felt the baby bop-bop-bop in her belly in an echo of the knock. 'You're a goofy one, alright, no question you are my hubby's baby.'

The door opened and Dave stood there with oven mitts on. 'Hey mama, come on in!'

'That's mumum to you, Dave. You have something in the oven?'

'Lady Espo sent along her world-famous enchiladas and some other snacks since we told her our little gambit here.'

Alexis nodded, saw Ryan, Esposito and Cam were already seated at the kitchen table which owuld serve as their card table this evening. 'I brought a little cash with me, I don't know how much buy-in you guys have.'

'Usually one hundred, but whatever you have is fine, we'll spot you the rest. Look who's here!'

Dave escorted her to the table like she was a duchess, and all the men rose to give her hugs andk isses and pets for the ever-expanding belly. 'Look at you, getting so big, mama,' Ryan grinned. 'How are you feeling?'

'Hungry,' she replied on a laugh. 'Are there snacks?'

'Are there snacks, pfft,' Esposito scoffed and held out her chair for her before setting a plate down in front of her loaded with veggie sticks, low-salt tortilla chips, cubed cheese and a bottle of Reed's raspberry ginger-beer. 'Shane said these have been your go-to snack foods.'

'Oh, he's such a good hubby.' Alexis sighed and felt her libido do an extra loop through her system while thinking of her man. She'd have to get him naked tonight without question. 'Are you guys snacking?'

'Yes, but because we're pigs, not pregnant,' Cam laughed, twirling his new cane in his fingers, watched as she dragged a cube of swiss through a puddle of humus. 'That a preggo craving right there?'

'Kinda,' Alexis blushed, and Ryan patted her shoulder. 'When Jenny was pregnant with Dell, do you know how much ranch dressing we went through in our house? I think I have shares in Hidden Valley now.'

'Oh, when Mere was carrying the twins, she wanted plum sauce on everything, even her homefries,' Esposito chimed in. 'Trust us, sweetie. Weird cravings are just part of being pregnant.'

'That does make me feel a little less like a circus freak,' she admitted, then got a whiff once more of the same earthy come-hither scent of her husband. 'It still feels a little bit like any time I see someone who didn't know I'm pregnant that I'm screaming at the top of my lungs, yes I like sex with my husband.'

'Considering how much more relaxed Shane was once you moved back states-side and were only an Amtrak trip away, I'd say that's a two-way street,' Cam snickered, then held up a finger as the oven-timer went off. 'Food's ready.'

'I got it.'

Dave got up to take the enchiladas out of the oven, and the movement had Alexis once more smelling the same yum-yum smell of her husband. She felt the happy little thrum of it between her thighs and groaned before she felt her eyes well up - along with the super-horny came the super-weepy.

It didn't go unnoticed by Esposito either, and he cocked his head to the side as he looked at his friend's wife. 'Lex? You okay?'

'I want my husband.'

'Are you in pain?' Ryan went on alert. 'Are you having Braxton-Hicks contractions?'

'No. I want Shane, I...' Alexis sucked it in, tried to look at them with her cheeks burning. 'One of you smells like my husband and now I have nothing else on my mind except banging him senseless.'

'Oh, sweetie, that's okay,' Cam laughed, and rose to give her a hug; he wrapped his arms around her gently as he weight-shifted to his left foot. 'Lili said that happened all the time when she was pregnant too.'

'It's you!' Alexis cried, and tugged at Cam's hirt, gave it a sniff. 'What soap do you use?'

'Old Spice Ocean Breeze?'

'Nope, that's not it.' She sniffed him again. 'Afteshave? Deodorant?'

'Givenchy PI and Speed-stick Outlast?'

'Nope.'

'Maybe it's the shampoo, Lili got this new stuff called Yes to Carrots that's completely-'

'That's it!' Alexis yelped triumphantly.

'Vegetarian friendly,' Cam finished on a laugh as Alexis tugged him down to actually smell his hair and felt for the girl when she let out a lusty sigh. 'My hair is making you hot for hubby?'

'Oh yeah,' she replied in such a tone that the rest of the men cracked right up. 'Did your women get like this?'

'Lex,' Ryan grinned as he shuffled the cards, 'you're in for a night of stories.'


	43. Sisters

_Hello all! Okay so I shorted the word count on the ch where they say goodbye to Harvey so this one is slightly longer to balance it out! Also, it is hilarious and cute! Enjoy!  
_

* * *

While Alexis played poker with the men in the West Village, Shane was getting his own dose of gender switcheroo as he looked around the living room area. If this guys having Alexis over was odd, this had to be the center of Weirdsville, he decided while sipping his iced tea.

His mother-in-law, one of his fellow MEs, and two of their best friends all plying him with food and drink to help loosen him up to tell him about taking care of a pregnant woman. Not just the actual physical care of her and her baby, though they'd have some good stories for that, seeing as Beckett, Lanie, Honey-Milk and Meredeth had eleven children between them. They wanted to give him some tips about making sure Alexis felt good in her mind and soul as the hormones could do a real number on those.

Lanie, who was sitting on the couch beside Shane, coudl sense a little of his apprehension, and she tapped her glass against his. 'Don't worry, Doctor Weaver,' she told him sweetly, 'just make yourself at home. Besides, you know Meredeth's cooking has a way of getting everyone to open up.'

'I know.'

'And surely what we're going to tell you can't be any better or worse than what the men are filling Alexis up with,' Honey-Milk added with a smile.

'Here we are!'

Meredeth appeared from the kitchen with a bowl of something that smell absolutely divine, and when Shane approached he nearly groaned in pleasure. 'Black-bean taco chilli? Oh you do know my weak spots, Mere.'

'That's the point of good food.'

Beckett, who'd followed Meredeth in with a basket of corn bread in one hand and a stack of bowls and cutlery in the other, knelt down on the floor beside Honey-Milk's feet. 'Dig in, everyone. Lanie, I know you love this stuff.'

'Oh, I know, but it gives me such awful gas. Worse when I was pregnant with Finn and wanted burritos all the time around the five month mark,' she laughed. 'Is Alexis getting weird cravings?'

'Well for a while she wanted nothing but chicken salad and club soda,' Shane responded. 'Now it's spicy foods. She even puts hot sauce on her pizza and tomato soup.'

'What about when you two go out for date nights?' Honey-Milk asked.

'We haven't done a lot of that lately. Alexis hasn't been feeling much like going out.'

Shane watched the other women exchange glances and his hand paused on the tureen of chilli. 'What? What'd I do?'

'It's what you haven't been doing,' Meredeth told him. 'Pregnant women need just as much love, maybe more, almost like a clingy first-time girlfriend.'

'I love Alexis with all my heart-'

'And her body is going through some pretty radical stuff right now, stuff that makes her feel about as desirable as athlete's foot,' Honey-Milk finished for him, plunking two corn breads into her bowl. 'She needs to feel good about herself, that you want to celebrate with her.'

'I do...celebrate with her,' Shane finished, his ears turning as red as the chilli, making the women all chuckle.

'Not just that kind of celebrating, though that is a perk of being horny twenty-four seven,' Beckett said with a wry smile. 'Celebrating as in being happy and joyful. You've both had some rough months in the first part of her being pregnant, you definitely need the happy.'

'That starts with date nights.' Lanie scooped chilli into her bowl. 'What do you guys like to do at home?'

'Eat, play video games. Alexis has really gotten into the video games being pregnant, especially the Lego ones, and she likes power walking and swimming.'

'Okay, make it strip video games' she laughed.

'Strip video games,' Shane repeated, sincerely intrigued by the concept. 'Like what?'

'Well, whoever collects fewer coins loses a top, whoever gets crushed by an enemy loses their pants until you're both naked and ready for some loving.'

'Oh, I like that.'

'Or she could come home to a romantic dinner, fancy up whatever take-away she is craving,' Mere added. 'When we were dating I came home after an all-day meet-and-greet autograph signing for my latest book, and Javi had made us candlelight pizza from Petrelli's.'

'Candlelight hot-wings. I like it.' Shane spooned up more chilli. 'Okay, this is kinda weird to ask since, well, Kate's my mother-in-law and I work with you, Lanie-'

'Nope, tonight it doesn't count,' Lanie replied with a shake of her head. 'Tonight we're your wife's friends who are here to help give you a female perspective on things.'

'Okay, then, did any of you ever get weirded out by the possibility of thebaby interrupting you during sex with it moving around?'

All the women exchanged knowing smiles, and Meredeth reached over to pat his knee. 'Oh, Shane, that's nothing to get worked up over.'

'So that won't happen?'

'Oh, it will definitely happen if it hasn't already,' she replied with a grin. 'But the thing to remember is that it's normal. Alexis' heart-rate is up after good preggo sex-'

'At least we hope it is,' Honey-Milk teased him, and Shane curled his lip at her.

'Of course it is.'

'Anyways,' Meredeth went on, 'because Alexis' heart-rate is up, the baby can feel it and will give her a boot for it. But that's normal. The baby will soak up those yummy joyful hormones and Alexis will sleepy like, well, a baby.'

'Really?'

'Absolutely.' Lanie nodded.

'Oh, massages!' Beckett pushed the hub of her corn bread around her bowl before going back for seconds. 'Massages are such a great way to get your hands on her and have her feel comfortable in her own skin. Especially feet and back.'

'How would that work?' Shane made a motion with his hands. 'She's five months pregnant, she can't lay on her stomach anymore.'

'This is also where sensual baths come in quite handy. Bubbles and candles and cold drinks do great things for the mind and body when you feel huge.'

'They really do,' Meredeth agreed. 'When I was pregnant with the twins, I was in there at least once a day, especially in the summer to cool off.'

'And this summer is supposed to be a scorcher too. Do you have Central Air?' Honey-Milk asked.

'No, we don't, our building hasn't got it outfitted.'

'Get yourself a small portable AC unit,' Honey-Milk told him. 'It will help a great deal with Alexis' sanity levels, especially since she'll be in the homestretch during the hottest part of the summer.'

'Also a good excuse to get her naked,' Shane countered and the women grinned.

'Very true, Shane,' Lanie told him, and reaching behind the couch handed him a book. 'A little gift from us ladies to you.'

Shane took it, arched an eyebrow at the title. 'Bang Bang Bump? Seriously?'

'Seriously.' Lanie poked him in the shoulder. 'You don't take this home tonight and give your wife a very good reason to go to bed happy, you owe me a dollar and a Diet Coke.'


	44. Lovers III

Alexis knew she'd be home before Shane; the guys were so understanding that the hormones were driving her mental and she wanted to have her husband screw her brains out. They hadn't made her feel weird or singled out, in fact they'd been so sweet and considerate, giving her ideas about how to make Shane feel loved too, like he wasn't just banging her to make her happy.

Shoving it aside, Alexis focused on what was most important - getting herself sexy for Shane. She tugged off her maternity pedal-pushers, then tried to tug off her top. After a few dancing turns around in her undies, Alexis realized she was stuck and groped for the end of the bed; she sank down and gave a little giggle.

'Lex?'

Alexis whipped her head left and right. 'Shane, honey? Which way are you?'

Shane, who'd seen her sit down on the edge of the bed in her panties and half-mangled top, moved over from the doorway. 'Right here, my love. How's my baby after a night with the boys?'

'Full of ideas, and- oh no! No, I wanted to be all sexy for you!'

'Right now, you're positively adorable.'

'Not the same,' she pouted, her lower lip poking out the fabric of her top and that did it for Shane. He helped her out of her top and smiled as he kissed her.

'I'm glad you waited because Lanie gave us a how-to book for preggo sex.' Shane thumbed through until he found the chapter on sex positons listed in chronology of comfort by trimester. 'According to this, the best positions are the ones that take the pressure off your belly, so woman on top, modified missionary, spoons-'

'Go back to that modified missionary one.' Alexis scooted closer to her husband, pointed to the page. 'What kind of modified?'

'Putting pillows under your hips and butt to change the angle, take the pressure off your belly, oh and looky here, one of my favourite things.' Shane read further, felt the warmth bloom in his belly he always felt when he thought of naughty Alexis. 'Keeping your legs over my shoulders helps change the angle too. You know what that feeling does to me.'

'Yes I do.' Alexis pecked his cheek, breathed deep the scent of his shampoo and moaned lightly. 'In fact, I think we should try that right now.'

'Okay, just give me one moment to catch up.'

'Then go catch up in the bathroom. I wanna make it look nice in here.'

Shane complied; when he returned to the bed room his heart swelled in love for his wife when he saw the touches she'd added - a few candles on the bedside table, and she'd changed into her satin robe. He set the lotion down on the bureau and crossed to her to kiss her. 'Alexis, I love you so much. And you too, baby,' he added when he felt the baby kick as Shane rubbed her tummy with a loving stroke.

Alexis closed her eyes as Shane kissed her, deeply, sensually as his hands found the belt of her robe and he tugged it open, stepping back to marvel at her body. Her eyes threatened to fill when she saw the look on his face, the look of pure lust for her; it was the same look he'd gotten the first time they'd celebrated his birthday today and she'd given him a strip-tease.

'You are so beautiful,' Shane told her, sincerely meaning it as he drank the sight of his pregnant wife. She was his miracle, was all he could think, his sexy redheaded miracle. He moved them so they were kneeling together in the centre of their bed. He stroked his hands up and down her silk-soft skin as he nibbled her lips, eliciting little sighs and moans from her.

Red-hot sparks danced up and down Alexis' spine as she felt his hands move over her. 'Shane,' she sighed when his mouth found the pulse-point of her throat. 'Shane, touch me.'

'I am.' But he knew what she meant and moved one hand to cup her breast; his thumb teased her nipple into a little pink peak and he smiled when he heard her moan. His other hand slid up to touch her, and when Shane lowered his lips to the subtle valley between her breasts, her back arched as much as it could into his tender love.

Alexis ran her palms over Shane's shoulders, soaking up every sensation cartwheeling through her body. She'd never felt more like a woman than she did in these moments of her pregnancy, where she could actually feel Shane loving every last square inch of her. 'Shane, I love you,' she sighed.

'I love you too, Lex. Here.'

He reached behind her, grabbed two pillows before gently nudging her shoulders back. 'Lie down, see if that feels good.'

Shane watched her and when he watched her nod slowly, Shane continued to feast on her body. He purposely tasted her breasts only one, giving her nipples each a little flick of her tongue, as he knew the tease would be the best way to turn her on. He moved down, down trailing kisses over her belly, her hip to her thigh, before moving to the centre of the heat.

Alexis moaned loudly; she could actually feel her eyes roll back inside her head. She'd always loved when Shane pleasured her with his tongue, but the added boost of pregnancy hormones made it almost painful in how good it felt to her. She let her legs fall open further, her fingers threading through his hair as she lightly moved her hips back and froth.

'Yes, Shane, right, there right...there!'

She gasped it out when Shane stiffen his tongue and flicked it over her trigger, sending shockwaves of delight through her body. As he knew her pleasures inside and out, he moved up her body and slipped inside just as he saw the clouds of orgasm clear from her eyes. 'Alexis,' he murmured and she took his hands, looped them around the spindles of their headboard while keeping her own closed over his.

'Take me,' she moaned in his ear when he leaned forward. 'Ride me hard, Shane.'

Shane crushed his mouth to hers, as he did what she asked, his strokes deep and sure as she all but begged him for more, until he felt her come in a blinding rush around him and he had no choice but to follow her over the edge.

He wanted to collapse on top of her, snuggle up against her beautiful breasts; instead so he wouldn't squish the bump, he slipped out of her and tucked himself in behind her so he could press himself close to her.

'Oh Shane,' Alexis sighed, cuddling close to him. She linked their hands, held them between her breasts so he could feel her heart galloping away. 'Oh Shane, that was so what I needed, I- Oof!'

'What is it?' Shane asked, once more going on alert, then chuckling when Alexis moved their hands down and felt the baby kicking away like a World Cup soccer player. 'Looks like I owe Lanie some money.'


	45. Doctor's Orders: 21 Weeks, 3 Days

'Okay, baby, do you know what we are doing today? I an so excited it for it, we are going to spend the holiday weekend in the Hamptons with our big noisy family. You've met all of them before, we just haven't all been together in a while.'

Alexis murmured to her baby as she tried to keep herself calm as she waited in Bishop's office with Shane on the Friday morning of the Memorial Day weekend. She'd been praying harder and harder every day that week that Bishop would come back and tell her they had nothing to worry about with their baby, that the foetus was a healthy bundle of unborn joy.

Being asked to come in to speak to the doctor one-on-one was not the way to put those worries at ease, so Alexis compensated by talking to her baby about their plans for the weekend, smiling when she felt the baby kick her.

'I know, I know, we have to wait a little more before seeing our friends, but don't worry everything will be fine.'

'Are you telling the baby not to worry or yourself?' Shane asked, her, leaning over to rub her belly. He couldn't get enough of putting his hands on her now that the baby was big enough for him to feel it kicking. The guys were also right, he noted, he found himself falling in love even more with his wife as he felt the proof of their love kicking away inside her body. 'Yeah, I know, baby. Mumum is being a big worry wart, isn't is?'

'I just don't understand why Bishop called us down here. We haven't done anything wrong during the first few months.'

'I know, we weren't passing notes in study hall, either!'

'Very funny, morgue boy.'

'Morgue boy.' Shane leaned over, felt the baby wigglign and jigglign around. 'Is Mumum being funny baby? Bump once for no.'

He waited, felt two little nudges under his palm and sighed. 'Well of course you agree with her,' he sighed comically, 'she has the rockin' boobies, doesn't she?'

'They're huge, I know.'

'Massive...and juicy...and sexy.'

'Doctor Weaver.' Alexis tried to stare down her husband but it didn't work when she split into a fit of giggles. 'Shane, I know what you're doing.'

'I know. I also know from talking to Javi in particular, that when he and Mere had the amniocentesis done for the twins, the reason Harvey called them down to use the time to talk to them about other things.'

'Mere did mention that to me too, but I figured that was a special case because she had twins.' Alexis saw Shane's gaze hadn't lifted from her rather impressive cleavage; she had to admit she was rocking the preggo boobs today in a breezy coral pink tanktop that let her sweat as much as she wanted without it looking gross. 'Shane? Up here, big guy.'

'No, those are the big gals,' he retorted, not bothering to apoligzing for openly ogglign her goodies. 'They look so soft...and kissable.'

'Shane calm yourself.' But there was a twinkle in Alexis' eye; the boys hadn't been kidding when they'd told her that her husband would still want her body as she got bigger and bigger with the baby. 'We'll have lots of time at the cottage for...napping.'

'Mansion.'

'Cottage,' she insisted, knowing he loved this game.

'Mansion cottage.'

Alexis opened her mouth to rebut when Bishop came in, this time dressed in a natty grey suit, and Alexis wondered if it was because she missed Harvey so much that she saw the same thing as she'd seen with the other doctor - regular office clothes on this man looked almost cartoony. He belonged in his scrubs just as Harvey had. She noted he had a couple of things in his hands and felt a sick clench in her belly as she gripped Shane's hand tightly.

'Thanks for coming down this morning, Weaver family,' Bishop told them kindly, 'I know you're both eager to get on the road to the Hamptons house. Jim told me it's your family's tradition.'

'It is.'

'How are you feeling?'

'Nervous,' Alexis replied, felt a series of rapid kicks from the baby. 'And the baby isn't happy with that.'

'Well rest easy because your results came back and you have one perfectly healthy baby growing in there.'

'Oh thank God.' Shane breathed it out, not realizing how nervous he was himself; his energy was focused on keeping his wife from stressing.

'I also wanted you to come in to go over a few other things as well,' Bishop continued, scanning Alexis' medical file. 'The bloodwork came back and your iron is lower than I'd like to see it, Alexis, so these-' he picked up the pill bottle he'd brought in with him '-are a prenatal vitamin that contain an iron supplement.'

'Cool. What's that?' Alexis pointed to the device in his hands; it looked like an iPod Touch with IV tubing in lieu of headphones.

'This is a hydration pump, I reccommend it to all of my patients who are coming into their third trimester in the summer. The forecast says this one will be a scorcher so while I'm not going to tell you to do it, I'm very strongly in favour of it for you.'

'How does it work?' Shane asked.

'We would give Alexis a small Port-A-Cath in her thigh and she would carry a small purse to house a five-hundred millilitre bag of fluid for when she is sitting down for longer periods of time, say at work and if she were up and moving around at a family get together, we would use this.'

Bishop held up the iPod-esque device. 'This has a smaller amount, only two-hundred and fifty millilitre hydration solution.'

'Is this something we have to decide on right now?' Alexis asked and he shook his head.

'No, this is a major decision to make about your last trimester, I don't expect to hear about it until our next appointment in mid-June. Discuss it together, take your time thinking about it and I'll be prepare to put in the Port-A-Cath on your next check-up Alexis.'

'Okay.' Alexis nodded, rubbed her belly as she felt the bubbles in her tummy just before her diaphragm convulsed and she let out a little 'hic'. 'Oh dammit!'

'Oh, no,' Shane laughed as he looked at his wife's suddenly pissed-off expression. 'They're back?'

'They're back. I blame -hic- the pomper-hic-o burrito I had for lu-hic-unch.'

Bishop spun away from his hiccuping patient and retrieved a small brochure. 'Here. Massage techniques for upper and lower end gas.'

'Thanks Doctor -hic- Bishop, I...' Alexis trailed off as she felt her hormones kick in along with the hiccups. 'I just want -hic- you to know that we-hic-e don't think of you as a replace-hic-ment for Harvey. You -hic- you -hic-'

'It's okay, Alexis, I understand. Now go have fun and I'll see you in three weeks.'


	46. Weekend Helpers I

'Mansion.'

'Cottage.'

'Mansion.'

'Cottage.'

Alexis smiled as Shane parked their rented Ford hybrid in the driveway of the Hamptons house; with the windows rolled down she could hear and smell already their annual summer-season kick-off. The kids were whooping and hollering with some activitiy that was sending the beloved Tortuga into fits of canine delight while the fragrant scent of grilling meat on a barbecue and the saltiness of the ocean danced on the breeze. She felt the baby do a happy little loopy-loop in her belly and she rubbed it near her navel.

'I know baby, we got through the scary stuff now we get the fun stuff, and then later Mumum gets the fun stuff that's just for her and Papa.'

'Come on, my little mastriyoka doll, let's go get some of that barbecue before Espo hogs it all.'

Shane had barely opened the door of the car when he found himself surrounded by the underage crowd full of chatter and excitement.

'Hello Doctor Weaver and Doctor Weaver with a bumpy!' Tessi chirped with a wide smile as she gave them hugs. 'How was the doctor's office this morning, is everything good and on the up-and-up with the baby?'

'Absolutely,' Shane replied, then laughed when Dell held out his knuckels for a bro-dap while Tessi rounded the car to give Alexis a hug. 'Hey medium-sized bro, what's shaking?'

'Tortgua in the water,' he replied. 'How is Alexis, is the baby getting bigger like it should?'

'Yes it is.'

'Good, good, and you guys won't be...' Dell blushed red as Alexis' hair. 'Y'know, romantic while we're all here.'

'If we are, we'll be quiet.'

'Dell, that's not nice to talk about,' Rosie told him primly, sniffed. 'RJ and Max get in trouble already a lot for asking that question too much. Don't add to the noise.'

'Add to the noise?' Alexis repeated, coming over to hug her little sister.

'Oof, your baby girl is so big now! And yes.' Rosie nodded, 'I heard Tante Meredeth say that to the twins when they are being silly and Meredeth is already trying to sort out something else.'

'Ah, well, she is a mami to four children so I'm sure she knows what she's talking about then, right?'

'Right. Whatcha doing Shane?' Rosie asked when she saw her big-bro-in-law pop the trunk of the car.

'Getting mine and Alexis' luggage for the weekend out.'

'Okay, just wait a moment. Boys! We need your muscles here!'

Rosie turned around and hollered, and to Alexis and Shane's amazement, Carey, Leo, Finn and Nate all raced over and headed straight for the back of the car with Shane.

'Okay, what do we have here?' Carey looking in the trunk and rubbed his hands together. 'Okay, Leo and I, we will get Shane's luggage, Shane you get Alexis' stuff. Finn, you Rosie and Dell and Tessi grab those groceries there.'

'Wha' 'bout me, Cah-ree?' Nate asked, tugging on Carey's shirt hem.

'You have the most important job of all, Nate, you have to keep the bumpy company with Alexis,' Carey told him and Nate lit up like a Christmas tree.

'I do that! I shitter-bocks!'

'You're a what?' Alexis inquired, eyebrows winging up.

'Shitter-bocks! Mama say mean talk lossa.'

'Oh a chatterbox,' she giggled. 'Nate, we better work on that pronunciation.'

Shane smiled as he listened to his wife trying to work on Nate's saying of the word so it didn't sound like a two year old cussing; when he turned back he cracked up once more when he saw the grocery bearers around the corner of the porch where Shane knew everyone was enjoying cold drinks just off of the kitchen while Carey and Leo each took a handle of his duffel and hauled it towards the porch where he could see Lanie, Dave and Adam watching, the two men each with cameras in their hands. Not wanting to ruin the boys fun, he tugged Alexis' rolling suitcase along to the stairs, grinning the whole time.

'Carefully, Leo, can't break anything inside,' Carey told him.

'I know, Carey, I got it!'

'Mama, where is Shane and Alexis' room?' Carey asked Lanie, and Lanie pointed him towards the house.

'Go ask Mister Castle, baby. He's in the kitchen.'

'Okay.'

The young men took off and Dave couldn't help ribbing Shane. 'See you've got some slave labour happening.'

'They swarmed us.'

'Oh, we know,' Adam laughed, shutting off the video mode on his camera. 'And we'll be laughing about it all weekend. Where did your bride get swept off to?'

'That way.' Shane pointed to the side-corner of the porch. 'How's yours doing?'

'Getting to the fussy stage, but she has less than a month to go.' Adam stuffed his hands in his pockets. 'Can't believe a month from now I'll be a daddy. That's a weird feeling.'

'You'll be great,' Dave told him, knowing how nervous the young man was; it was all over his face. 'Tell me more about the nursery?'

'We decided on a Muppet Babies theme, so we have a whole bunch of wall hangings in bright colours, and the crib sheets all have sleeping baby Muppets on little clouds. Oh and we got the baby a totally adorable stuffed Gonzo the Great, and...what?' Adam trailed off when Dave, Lanie and Shane all grinned at him. 'It's my first child about to be born, you seriously think I'd be anything less than over the moon gushing when you ask me baby related questions?'

Lanie opened her mouth to reply when she heard Tessi's voice loud and clear from around the side of the house.

'Tortuga, down! Down! No jumping up right now, we are giving the mamas to be a manicure!'

Intrigued, she left the men to discuss manly baby things and giggled the moment she saw the tableau - Alexis and Lindsay, both sporting burgeoning baby bumps, had their feet propped up on the wicker table, with Jojo being a masseuse while Kelley attended to Lindsay's nails and Tessi to Alexis' fingers.

'There we are! Now you are _muy linda _for the special weekend this weekend,' Tessi told her, gently stroking the candy-pink lacquer over Alexis' nails. 'Even though we're not doing the Olympics this weekend.'

'We're not?' Lindsay looked saddened. 'I was so looking forward to that.'

'No, Daddy and Mami said that they are being pushed back this year because you are so close to having your baby, Lindsay,' Tessi explained. 'So we'll do them on a special just-for-Olympics weekend in July when the baby is already here and Alexis still has a little bit to go.'

'Alexis, does that feel good?' Jojo asked, prodded her sister's swollen feet.

'Actually, it does Jojo.'

'Good, because we have so much fun in store this weekend, you need to be ready to go!' Jojo kissed the belly. 'You too bumpy girl.'

'You know it's a girl?' Tessi squeaked.

'No, Jojo just thinks it is,' Alexis laughed.

'Nuh-uh.' Jojo shook her head. 'I know it is.'


	47. Goofy Ones

The next morning, after an evening on the beach of nothign but overwhelming love from all the children - they'd sat around teh campfire with Shane playing guitar and the little kids insisting on traditional little kid songs to teach both Lindsay and Alexis' babies - Alexis was in the shower and contemplating breakfast when Shane came in to join her. He flipped open the top of his 'Yes to Carrots' shampoo bottle and Alexis' hormones immediately went to eleven.

'Good morning Doctor,' she purred at him.

'It will be soon, for us both,' he purred back, kissing her lightly, and turning her so her smooth back could press against his chest.

They made love as they'd promised Dell they would - quickly, quietly, romantically, without any disturbances to the rest of the house. With their systems tuned and the baby kicking away to a happy little rhythm in thanks for the extra hormone boost they finished their morning shower ablutions and dressed for the weather, an early heat wave and prediction for the summer to come.

'I think we should use the weekend as a test run,' Shane told her as he pulled on an OCME fun-run t-shirt to go with his swim-trunks. 'See if we should take Bishop up on that offer for the hydration pump.'

'That's gonna be mega awkward though, and I'm already feeling bulky as it is,' Alexis pointed out. 'I know asthetically speaking it will be hideous but I'm gonna be a mumum. I have to learn to put myself on the backburner for the sake of my child right?'

'No, just a healthy compromise. Besides, we have time to think about it and Bishop gave us lots of literature about the pros and cons for it too.'

There was a knock on the door and Shane answered it to a laugh - Violet and Leo were both there with a hand clapped over their eyes.

'You guys decent?' Violet asked.

'Yeah but what with the face-cover, guys?' Shane asked. 'You not quite awake and the sunlight's bothering you or what?'

'This is what Mama makes me do when the boys are getting dressed, and Finn and Carey do it when Mama is in the shower and they need to pee.'

'Ah, okay, well everything is covered up that should be,' Alexis assured her, and Violet dropped her hand away, lowered Leo's for him. 'What's up guys?'

'I'm here to say that breakfast is ready, and no you didn't oversleep, Mami was just up very early because she is excited for the big surprises for later today,'Leo informed them, 'and she cooks when she is too excited to sleep.'

'And I'm here to tell you that you, Alexis, are going shopping with Sloanie, Meredeth, Lili and my mama while we get the surprises ready,' Violet added as they walked into the kitchen; Alexis and Shane, along with Adam and Lindsay, had both been given main-floor rooms this time around so there would be no risk of a pregnant lady turning a hormone-softened ankle on a missed step. She smield winningly at everyone in the kitchen - her daddy, Leo's daddy, Detective Ryan and Meredeth, of course. 'Look I found one of our preggo-eggos!'

'Did you find her like that or wake her up, Violet?' Dave asked as he ran mango slices through the juicer for Meredeth.

'They were already awake and I told them about the surprises and how she and Lindsay have to leave for a little bit so we can get it all organized,' Violet replied with a little air of self-satisfaction on a job well done.

'What about Lindsay?' Alexis asked as she rubbed her belly as she took a spot at the kitchen table; the baby was up and doing its morning jumping jacks early today it seemed.

'Oh Daddy said she and Adam are going shopping with the boys for groceries for our clam-bake dinner tonight.' Leo wrinkled up his nose in confusion. 'But that makes no sense?'

'Why's that?'

'Because Lanie is allergic to fish in a shell-'

'Shellfish, Leo,' Violet told him with a shake of her head. 'They're called shellfish.'

'Whatever, Lanie is allergic to those kinds of things-' Leo gave Violet a look '-so can we still call it a clam-bake when there aren't any clams?'

'Sure, because it's about having a campfire on the beach and make yummy snacks to have for your campfire party,' Shane told him simply, then caught Violet's eyes darting back and forth. 'Violet, my little flower, you okay?'

'Uhuh. Alexis,' Violet breathed as she watched the woman's pregnant bump jiggle around beneath her sundress, unaware her eyes were tracking every move. 'Can I touch your baby?'

'Of course here.'

Alexis took the little girl's hand and put it to where the baby was really moving around. Vilet giggled, motioned to Leo. 'Pretty cool, right?'

'Sure is! Leo! Leo, come feel this!'

Leo, who'd been heading towards the island to see if he could sneak a snack before the rest of the house chowed down, turned back to feel Alexis' belly. 'Wow, your little boy sure is fiesty today!'

'Boy?' Esposito's ears perked up as he baby-sat the skillet of scrambled eggs. 'You guys toldthe Little League crowd and not us?'

'No,' Shane laughed, 'they are all convinced it's a boy already, except for Jojo, and the more people say it's a boy the more she digs in that it's a girl.'

'Are you going to wait to find out?' Leo asked. 'We all knew Max was Max because Mami had to have an operation when Max was a little itsy-bitsy guy in her tummy.'

'Yes, we're waiting until the baby is born,' Alexis giggled, charmed at how Leo pitched his voice higher and held his forefinger and thumb millimetres apart to describe how small Max was when Meredeth's ovarian cyst had ruptured. 'So I hope whatever you are planning will be good for a little boy or girl.'

'Well it-'

'Noooo!' Leo clapped his hand over Violet's mouth, which had Alexis flashing back to her birthday. He gently waggled Violet's face back and forth as he tried to be serious but was grinnign a mile wide. 'No, no, no you big-mouth billy-bass secret spiller! What, did you take lessons from tia Lili or what!'

'I wun dill an-fin,' Violet mumbled to him, and nodded, making Leo's hand move. 'Leggo.'

'You promise?' Leo adjusted his hold on her so she looked like a puckered-up goldfish.

'On Arturo's puppy-heaven soul.'

'Okay then.' Leo took his hand away, then kissed Violet's cupcake-scent cheek. 'Thank you for not licking me.'

Violet smiled, then with a move like lightning, grabbed Leo's face and licked it like she was Tortuga before racing off. 'Gotcha back for that one Leo!' she hollered, making Alexis laugh and murmur to her unborn baby,

'And just think,' she said aloud as the others in the kitchen tried not to wet themselves from hysterical laughter. 'There's about sixteen more of them and they all love you that much too.'


	48. Curiosities

By ten that morning after everyone had had their fill of breakfast, the children had dispersed to the beach while Alexis and Shane were dragged off their separate ways, Alexis to go maternity fashion shopping with the girls while Lindsay headed off for groceries with the boys.

'Why isn't she going with us?' Alexis wondered as she watched the car pull out ahead of her, Meredeth, Sloan, Lanie and Lili.

'Because the grocery store is closer to the house in case there is an emergency like what happened when I went into labour with Nate,' Sloan told her. 'You've still got a few more months to go.'

'I know.' ALexis smiled dreamily, making the other women melt. 'We've still got a lot to do though, but surprisingly I'm not as worried about that as I was before.'

'What's left?'

'The nursery. We're turning the office off the living room into the nursery. Once we have a theme picked out we  
like we'll be calling up the boys for a painting party.'

'Sure, sure,' Lili nodded, glad Alexis was completely oblivious to the fact they'd be throwing her a baby shower for the girls only the same weekend that happened. 'Have you guys got any ideas in mind?'

'No, because every time we think of something good it turns out one of you guys has already done it.'

'Sweetheart, no one is going to think of you as stealing an idea for a nursery,' Meredeth reminded her, flicking on her blinker to turn at the stoplights into town. 'Hell, Andrea and I pretty much had identical ones for our first babies, both girls I might add.'

'It's not unusual Lex,' Lanie added with a smile. 'Dave and I went round and round on nursery like you wouldn't believe when I was pregnant with Carey. He wanted hockey or sports and I was like, if we have a little girl we are not painting the nursery with pink Boston Bruins logos.'

'We just want the thing that's it for our little one.' Alexis rubbed her belly as the baby gave her spleen a one-two high-kick. 'Yes, we're talking about you, aren't we boo? Yeah we are.'

'Oh, that reminds me, Lex.' Sloan turned around from the front seat. 'Devon and Nate wanted me to ask because they're a little shy but can you and Shane come for dinner next week when you're both free? They want to have bumpy over for a play-date.'

'They do know the baby isn't actually here yet, right?' Lili asked, a little concerned.

'I think Devon's a little jealous of the cuddle-time RJ and Jojo get. I tried to explain that RJ and Jojo are the uncle and auntie but they think everyone should get equal playing time.'

'Max is having the same issue,' Meredeth added as she searched for a parking spot. 'He's trying very hard to understand how big an age gap there is between your and your siblings Lex.'

'What's he come up with?'

'That Mis-uh-ter Castle mussa been not too old when Alessis was a baby,' Meredeth explained, imitating her son; it made the others laugh. 'His daddy is already almost fifty and he's only four, so he understands better people who are old having babies than younger.'

'Wow, my big bro is almost fifty.' Lili shook her head with a little pout. 'Thankfully I don't have to see that too soon.'

'Sooner than me,' Meredeth teased her.'

'Meanie.'

'Spot, Mere, spot!' Sloan pointed out the passenger window of Meredeth's Nissan and Meredeth zipped in, cackled gleefully.

'Mwah-ha-ha, tis mine, snotty bitch in a Volvo,' she said to the black car behind her. 'Okay, where to first?'

'Oh, let's go to Sweetie Pies!' Lili said.

'That's a pie shop, Lili. Alexis needs cute and breezy summer things since she'll be in her third trimester in July and August.'

'Nora Maine has really nice stuff for a decent price,' Meredeth remembered. 'I liked it a lot when I was pregnant with the twins.'

'And then over to Shelly's Treasure Trove,' Lanie added, 'then pie for you Lili, then maybe over to Monica Eddleston?'

Sloan looked at her watch. 'Will we have enough time for that? The kids want us home by one.'

'Hmm, you're right. We'll play it by ear.'

'Why, what's happening at one?' Alexis asked, looking at the other women who simply ignored her question. 'Oh, come on, don't be like that. If I'm cranky, the baby is cranky and then he or she takes it out on my kidneys.'

'Don't worry, Mumum-to-be,' Lili told her. 'We won't disappoint you or our children.'

True to their word, the girls were rolling back into the driveway by ten to one; Alexis' curiosity had threatened to get the better of her in between discovering cute sundresses and comfortable maternity summer tunics and slip-tops to go with her elastic-waisted pedal-pushers and knee-length yoga pants.

There were no signs of a party on the outside of the house - no balloons or streamers attached to the porch railings - so whatever this surprise was had to be happening indoors.

'What are they up to, huh baby?' she murmured as the baby turned over inside her, using her bladder as a pillow. 'What are you big friends up to indeed.'

'Here, Lex, I got these, you go on inside.' Sloan took her purse and her shopping bags from her friend, watched her waddle up to the house; no question Alexis was at the waddling stage, given how she was almost all belly with this baby.

'Hello?' Alexis opened the door, called out for anyone who would answer. 'Hello, anyone home? We're back!'

'In here!'

Alexis followed the sound of Lindsay's voice and smiled when she saw her friend there, just as pregnant and baffled as she was. 'Hey mama.'

'Hey mama back.' Lindsay rubbed the mound of her belly; she was so over this pregnancy bullshit, she just wanted her baby here and in her arms now, dammit. 'How was shopping with the girls?'

'Fun, I got a lot of clothes for the summer. Plus Meredeth invited me over for a baking and clothes borrowing day. She thinks she has some stuff I might like from when she had the twins.'

'That'll be fun.'

'How was your morning with the boys?' Alexis asked, easing onto the ottoman; she avoided the chairs as they were too comfy and she had a sneaking suspicion she and Lindsay would be fetched by a child or group of children in short order.

'Fun, they were quite entertained by the culinary musings of a woman eighteen million months pregnant.'

'That bad huh?'

Lindsay rolled her eyes. 'I'm praying this baby is on time. Bishop gave us a due date of June tenth, and I'm hoping it's close to that.'

'And you're really set on the whole drug-free birth plan, huh?'

Lindsay nodded, then looked over when she saw Finn and Leo coming in, big grins on their faces.

'Okay we're ready for your surprise! Come on, mamas!'


	49. Little Fashonistas

Finn and Leo lead Alexis and Lindsay into the dining room; they could only stare in wonderment at what they saw. The large dining room table had been covered in plastic tablecloths, while at each place was set a pair of white onsies - one had a purple clothes pin, the other a green one. In the middle of the table were bottles, pots and tubes of paint in every colour of the rainbow, along with collections of brushes galore and clear plastic pitchers filled with water. The children all stood by their chairs, clearly waiting for the guests of honour to come in; the adults were crowded along the opposite side of the table, holding cameras and video recorders.

'Our guests of honour are here, everyone!' Finn crowed triumphantly, and the children cheered, as did the grown-ups.

'What is all this?' Alexis laughed as Leo continued to hold hers and Lindsay's hands.

'This is a onsie painting party,' Leo informed them. 'We decided we all wanted to give your little babies a special gift since we are so big and they will be so new, and this way you will think of us when you put your little boys in them.'

'Girl,' Jojo piped up from the centre of the cluster of kids. 'Alexis has a little girl, Leo.'

'Okay, everyone who thinks Alexis is growing a little boy, raise your hand,' Finn told them, and nearly all the hands shot up. 'And now who thinks a girl?'

With Jojo the lone taker, RJ could only laugh a little. 'Jojo, you're all by yourself.'

'So? I know I'm right.'

'No, no fighting, and no tears either,' Leo added when he heard Lindsay sniffle. 'We don't care what your hormones say, we say otherwise.'

'They did this for our babies Lex,' Lindsay whispered, trying to listen to Leo's order. 'Leo, Finn, you guys are the best.'

'You say that now.' Finn gave a little wiggle of pride. 'Wait until you see what we are going to make. Mama? It's time to start now!'

'Right, got it Finn.' Lanie passed her camera to Dave, gave him a kiss. 'Lili, Sloan, Honey-Milk and Robina. You guys all get to help with round one. The rest are the second group and we all help with clean-up.'

'Wha' 'bout the daddies?' Heddie asked, as the kids sat down. 'Wha' they do now?'

'They are getting ready for our super-suh-pecial onsie-party supper, best buddy,' Jojo explained as she ushered her young friend towards their spots. 'They have to clean veggies and peel potatoes and get everything ready so when we say we are ready for supper, all we have to do is go to the fridge and it's all set to put on the barbecue.'

'Oh, goo' 'dea.' Heddie climbed up on her chair, smiled winningly at her parents who were amongst the last of the adults to vacate the space. 'Shoo-shoo, Daddy. We haffin ou' pah-tee now,' she told him with a little flick of her hands.

'Here, Alexis, you go here.' Finn pulled out one of two very comfy looking chairs that had been adorned with shining bright purple and green ribbons and streamers. 'This is your spot. Leo is looking after Lindsay.'

'Thank you Finn, you're a very nice boy to do that.' Alexis sat down, felt her feet already thanking her for it. 'Oh that's nice, very nice indeed.'

'So how does this work?' Lindsay asked, looking up and down the table.'

'We all have our onsie to paint, and we all ahve to be nice and share the paints because there are so many colours we can't be selfish,' Finn explained, with the patience of someone who was indeed the youngest sibling in a household of vibrant personalities, 'and we get to paint yours first Lindsay. Mama said so.'

'Why's that?'

'Because your baby is so much closer to its birthday than Alexis and Shane's baby that means you are super-extra busy in your body and need to sleep. You too Alexis,' he added hastily, 'but your baby is littler.'

'Leo, you need your smock,' Violet reminded him as she helped little Heddie put her protective shirt on.

'Right, gracias Violet! Were you surprised?' Leo asked Alexis as he put on his smock; the little married moment didn't go unnoticed by Lindsay or Alexis.

'Well, I can't think of a better way to spend the afternoon,' Alexis told him genuinely. 'I would never have guessed this was your surprise. I thought maybe it was a stuffed animal party.'

'We'll do that for the next ones,' Carey told her with a wink of his green eye before he clapped his hands together, looked up and down the table. 'Okay, little buddies do you all have your big buddies?'

'Yes!' Heddie nodded, patted Jojo and Rosie's hands. 'Righ' here, Cah-wee!'

'Me too! Dill an' Dun'an,' Nate added pointing to the boys on either side of him. 'An' Dell see-hot Tissy too!'

'Sweethearts are nice to have, and so are brothers and sisters,' Kelley agreed, wishing with all her might her brother could have been there instead of being in stupid France until the next weekend. It seriously sucked he had to miss out because he was 'expanding his horizions' as her father said. 'What are you going to paint, Nate?'

'Ummm, a 'miley fissy!'

'A smiling fishy is a great idea,' Tessi told him. 'I'm going to do some turtles.'

'Of course you are,' Dell teased her, making his young sweetie-pie roll her eyes just like Meredeth rolled hers at Esposito.

'And you're probably gonna do dinosaurs, right?'

'Naturally.'

'They are so married,' Trini giggled from her place between her twin and her own sweetheart. 'I'm going to do something big and bright.'

'What something might that be?' Lindsay asked.

'Dunno yet, it's just gonna be big and bright.'

'Nessa, you're awfully quiet,' Alexis commented; the girl was friendly but she was very much on the shy and introverted side, no question. 'Thinking about what you're going to draw?'

'Uh-huh. I'm stuck on an idea because we don't know if Lindsay's baby is a boy or a girl so what would be good for a boy and a girl.'

'How about a picture of a boy bug and a girl bug that says 'best buddies',' Jojo suggested. 'I'm doing that but with fishies.'

'Oh good idea, Jojo! Tha- I mean gracias.'

'Alexis?' Finn looked at her, confused as he reached for the brushes. 'Lindsay, why aren't you ladies doing anything?'

'Because this is your party for us, isn't it?' Lindsay reminded him and Max, sitting on Lindsay's other side, scoffed just like his father.

'You silly-goosies! We are having a par-tee so you can puh-lay too! Here, I help you.'

Max leaned forward and grabbed a couple tubes of paint - turquoise, lemon yellow and navy blue. 'You do one for your baby. You can make it say 'we love you'.'

As Alexis listened to the chatter around her, she was struck with an idea - she knew exactly what she wanted to do for the nursery.


	50. Weekend Helpers II

_Hello my lovelies! _

_So I'm sure you're wondering if I was body-snatched by the pod-people or what since I haven't updated since Sunday but here's the dealio: two reasons why I've been MIA since the 19th. Reason one - working on getting my edits for my first actual they-pay-me-to-write-this novel done so I can begin shopping it around. Reason two - on Monday I was cleaning my car and whacked my head on the corner of the passenger side door and felt like crap for two days before going to the ER on Wednesday night to learn I'd actually given myself a concussion! Yeah, I'm that talented! So here we are, I'm on some pretty sweet meds right now but I'm back mostly in fighting form! Enjoy!_

* * *

'Oh that's so pretty!'

'Finn, you have all the glitter paitn down there can I have some please?'

'Mine's all done, now what?'

Alexis looked up and down the table at the various artistic creations and had to grin - she and Lindsay were the luckiest women in the world if they were having babies born into a noisy loving family like this. The younger children had done paint-by-numbers iron-on patterns and had the older children help them, treating it just like a colouring book to stay inside the lines. The older kids, like Dell, Violet and Leo, were doing free forms but none held a candle to Tessi.

'Wow, big sis!' Max's eyes went huge when he looked over at Tessi's swimming turtles, complete with shading and shadows. The girl was a serious talent.. 'That is so good! Yours is way better than mine.'

'Not better, just different,' Tessi told him, 'and besides, everyone's got stuff they rock and stuff they suck at.'

'Exactly. Look at Daddy, Max,' Trini added, 'he can't make a pot of water without burning it, as Mami says. And Mami doesn't like to drift a stick-car which is why she always let Daddy drive in Dave's fancy blue Sting-Ray'

'But what am I good at? I'm a puh-rofessor, I have to know a lot of things!'

'Hey, Max, did you know that professors usually teach only one or two things really really well?' Kelley told him.

'Really?'

'Oh, yeah, TJ says that they have whole classes on very speci- spefi- very particular things at high school and university. He says there are teachers who do nothing except teach you all about plants and animals and how their bodies work, it's called biology.'

'Oh cool! I wanna be a puh-rofessor of sharks and things in the ocean. You can do that right?' Max looked to Alexis for guidance.

'You sure can it's called marine biology because it's all about animals in the ocean. Oof!'

'What?' Rosie's head whipped around at the noise Alexis made. 'Alexis why did you say oof? What's wrong?'

'The baby can't coem yet!' Nessa looked horrified; she looked for her mother and pointed at Alexis. 'Mama! Alexis can't have the baby yet!'

'Guys relax it's only the baby kicking me, letting me know it's time for lunch and then a rest,' she reassured them and actually heard a collective sigh of relief as they continued to finish their masterpieces. 'I love all of you so much for the onsies and for being such wonderful small humans.'

'We love you too, Alessis!' Devon chirped back and Nate nodded.

'Lossa love an' mooshes!'

'Man,' Dell laughed, 'that one really stuck huh? That's my bad, I guess. Alexis you want a hand in the kitchen with a snack?'

'No, thanks Dell I have leftovers from when we were in town so I'm just going to take those and go read a book or something.'

'Alexis, do you have your iBump yet?' Violet asked, and Alexis shook her head.

'What's that?'

'Ask Mama, she said it's a very good idea.'

'I will.'

Alexis went lever herself out of her chair and groaned a little when she found she couldn't quite do it. 'Okay, a little help here?'

'I got it! I got it!' Carey raced over and put one hand in Alexis, used the other to brace her elbow. 'Up we go, big almost mama,' he groaned as Alexis got to her feet. 'Do you have twins in there or what?'

'Oh, no, no no Carey.' Devon shook his head. 'Mama says never ever tease a puh-regnant lady about how big she is, you might make her cuh-ry.'

'Whoops.' Carey rubbed the belly, gave it a kiss. 'Baby, I'm not teasing you or your mama, I promise.'

'That's very sweet, Carey. Now time for nosh and a nap.'

Alexis wandered out of the dining room and into her room where she was a little surprised to find Shane reading his copy of Baby Boom. 'Hey, I thought you'd be off playing with the guys?'

'I needed a break from getting my tailfeathers spanked at eight-ball by Cam and Jeremy,' he replied, set aside his book when Alexis cuddled close on the bed. 'What's up, Kinder-Surprise?'

'I have found the answer.'

'To life, the universe and everything? Sorry to burst your bubble my gorgeous strawberry but Douglas Adams beat you to it. The answer is forty-two.'

'Not that one,' she giggled. 'The baby question about the nursery.'

'Oh, _that_ question.' Shane shook his head. 'Alright what's the idea now?'

'I think we should do a best friends theme.'

This idea had Shane's attention perking up. 'A best friends theme?'

'Yeah, like have all different kinds of animals being best friends together, and each of the kids gets to pick an animal, and we can do a wall mural of photos of the kids with the bumpy, then have photos of RJ and Jojo holding their niece or nephew front and centre,' Alexis explained, each idea she rhymed off getting her more and more excited. 'Shane, I have never seen a grou pf children so excited over babies coming, and Jojo and RJ will be tickled into oblivion by the idea of having a starring role in the baby's room.'

'I know. But you're forgetting one thing.'

'What?'

Shane leaned over, put his lips to Alexis' belly as he gave it a rub. 'Kicky McGee gets a say too. What say you, little one, you wanna have your room be all about having the best friends in the world?'

He felt two sharp nudges beneath his palm and had to wince. 'Hey now, be nice to your mama, especially since she looks so tasty in that dress too.'

'Then you'll really love when we go to bed tonight.'

'Oh?'

'I got new sexy underthings designed for big ol' fatties like me.'

'Not fat, pregnant,' Shane reminded her. 'And if I may say your boobies have doubled in size which makes you even more yummy-looking.'

'Don't say boobies, it's weird.'

'Fine, ta-tas, that better?'

'Much.' Alexis felt a little ripple go through her core, pulled her husband in for a kiss. 'Think we have time for one now?'

In answer to her question, there was a knock on the door and Shane chuckled. 'Guess not. Who is it?'

'It's Duncan and Nate!'

Shane went to the door to let in their little guests and wasn't surprised when the young boys breezed right past him in order to get to Alexis. 'What's up guys? It's almost time for Alexis and the baby to have a nap.'

'Someone wanted to say night-night for naptime,' Duncan explained as Nate clambered onto the bed to give Alexis a hug.

'No fo-giddin' bee-bee,' Nate said sweetly and wrapped his short arms around Alexis' body. 'Nigh-nigh buddy, see soon!'

Satisfied, the little boys left and Shane grinned at his pregnant wife.

'Okay, looks like best buddies is the theme for our little one.'


	51. Weekend Helpers III

Shane awoke from his nap with Alexis to small fingers poking him in the hip. Better get used to that, he thought with a little groan as he rolled over and smiled at Heddie and Jojo.

'Hello ladies, what's shaking?'

'Nussin,' Heddie replied sweetly, sweetly smiling at him. 'We here to say it 'nack time fo' Alessis. Mama and Mee-wah-det say.'

Shane looked over his shoulder, saw Alexis sleeping soundly. 'She's still asleep and because the baby is so kicky lately, that's hard to come by so we'll just let her sleep for a moment.'

'But...' Heddie looked impatient. 'Mama say it 'nack time now!'

'It's okay, Heddie,' Jojo reassured her friend. 'Alexis can have something when she wakes up.'

'But it be col'!'

'Then we can put it in the microwave.'

Heddie's eyes went round and Shane had to smother a laugh at her expression of absolute abject horror. 'No! No haffin 'low-in-a-dark baby!'

'Heddie, I can assure you if Alexis has something warmed the microwave the baby won't glow in the dark,' he told her.

'You shoo?'

'I'm sure.'

'Well...no.' Heddie shook her head and went to climb over Shane to get to Alexis' side of the bed. He sat up, caught her just in time. 'No-no-no! Leggo, Shane, oh-nee-gah!'

'What?'

'Oh-nee-gah, Mama say mean peas in Shappa-neese.'

'Ah, gotcha.' Shane remembered vaguely that Andrea was bilingual, speaking fluent Japanese from having lived there for four years. He wondered how things would go with teaching his own baby Hebrew and Dutch. A trilingual toddler, he thought on a snicker, and was brought back to the moment when Heddie gave another wriggle.

'Shane leggo!'

'Only if you promise not to bother Alexis, she needs her sleep.'

'Pomis.' Heddie drew her little index finger over her heart in a cute little X-pattern. 'She 'till gonna nee' a 'nack.'

'We won't let her go hungry. In fact...' Shane felt hsi head spin a little; he hadn't been sleeping much lately since Alexis was so fussy from the baby kicking, either. 'Why don't you two see if you can get one of the big kids to help bring a plate of snacks in here for Alexis? Mamas to be love eating in bed.'

'Okee!' Heddie slipped out of Shane's arms and grabbed Jojo's hand. ' 'Mon bessie buddy! Gotta go tell Mama Alessis 'till 'noozing.'

Jojo sent Shane a look. 'Make sure Alexis is awake, Heddie really wants to bring her a snack. She's feeling a little left out of the baby stuff.'

'Why?'

'Because she's one of the smallest ones. I'm a little sister too, I know what she means.'

'Okay, I'll try.'

Jojo left with Heddie jabbering away about Alexis needing to feed the baby; Shane turned to Alexis but before he could move to gently shake her sholder, she whimpered, winced as she snorted herself awake.

'Shane, my tummy hurts, I...it doesn't feel right,' she grimaced, and Shane felt his brain go ice-cold with calm.

'Okay, is it all over or indigestion?'

'It's like a band squeezing here.' Alexis motioned near her navel.

'Okay, I'm going to go get Dave, get him to check you out.'

Alexis nodded, closed her eyes as she breathed deeply. If this was anything akin to totally natural childbirth without any pharmaceutical invention, she was certain of two things - one, Lindsay Brennan was an absolute lunatic and two, she'd never ever tease Kevin Ryan again for worrying about his wife.

The door opened and she saw Shane come back in with Dave and his paramedic kit. 'Hey Mumum, feeling a little gnarly are we?'

'Uh-huh.'

'Describe it for me.'

'It's like a band squeezing around my mid-section, I- like I'm tightening a belt too tight.'

Dave nodded, opened his kit to pull out his latex medical gloves. 'Alright, I'm pretty sure I know what it is but we'll check you out just to be sure. Off with the panties, let's have a look.'

'You know, Shane and I went out for dinner a couple times before he got to do that,' Alexis teased him but she complied, knowing her humour was a protection mechanism. She inched up her summer dress, wiggling out of her panties. 'Bet the other ladies you look after say things like that all the time, huh?'

'No, usually just the ones in our family who ask me to check things out.' Ever the professional, Dave quickly examined Alexis while keep his eyes on her face the whole time. 'Yep, you're just fine, my dear. No dilation, no breakage, not a thing. Just some good old fashioned Braxton-Hicks, which probably means you need a drink.'

'That's what a contraction feels like?' Alexis arched an eyebrow. 'Lindsay is crazy. And Honey-Milk too for that matter.'

'You want me to bring you some water,' Dave asked her, pulling off his gloves, 'or you want me to let one of our helper-monkeys do it?'

'Helper-monkeys?'

Dave nodded; he went to the door. 'Okay guys, coast is clear.'

To Alexis and Shane's amazement, Finn, Nate and Nessa flew in, lined up like little large-eyed soldiers on Alexis' side of the bed.

'Alessis, you okay?' Nate asked, rubbing her tummy. 'Bee-bee okay too?'

'Yes, the baby's just fine. I just had a little tummy ache, that's all.'

'Mama says that happens sometimes when ladies don't drink enough. It happened when Lindsay and Adam came for supper at our house and Nessa asked why Lindsay was making funny faces,' Nessa added with a little air of authority.

'Can we bring you drinks?' Finn offered, putting his hands on the little kids' shoulders. 'Do you want tea or water or something fruity and bubbling?'

'Can I have all three?'

'Juicy-box!' Nate chirped brightly. 'Tha' foo-tee, righ' Nissy?'

'It sure is Mister Nate and very healthy with lots of nutrients for the baby.'

'Bee-bee 'tong.'

'The baby will be strong, exactly,' Finn agreed. 'Nessa, you can be in charge of the regular water and I will bring the tea.'

'Actually Finn Nessa should have the hot drink since she's the biggest out of you three,' Dave told his son, and Finn nodded, clearly used to being the little guy.'

'Okay, and then I can keep an eye on Nate too, right?'

'I big!' Nate said with such indignation that Alexis laughed out loud, and he sniffed exactly like Sloan did when she was affronted by something. 'I gonna be two soon!'

'Alright, big boy, we gotta go get Alexis her things.' Nessa tugged Nate's elbow, then smiled when she watched him step close to the bed, kiss Alexis' tummy.

'Be cay-fo bee-bee. No' bee-day time now.'

Dave ushered the youngsters out, and when they were alone once more, Shane chuckled.

'I think we'd be very remiss not to honour our little one's friends who already love him or her so much.'

'Shane?' Alexis told him in a light, sweet tone.

'Yes, my lovely strawberry.'

'I want the drugs. Lots and lots of them.'


	52. Protectors: 23 Weeks, 5 Days

'Shane? Which one would be better?'

Shane patted his face dry from shaving, left the bathroom for the bedroom where he saw Alexis in her lace-topped stay-up stockings, her lacy-black maternity support belt and matching black lace bra. On the foot of the bed was a tomato red silk tunic and a boxy white and silver pinstripe blouse. 'I like what you're wearing now, but I doubt that will look good in court.'

'Funny man.' Alexis rubbed her pregnant tummy, pouted. 'The white looks more professional but it's going to be a long-ass day in court, and- mmf, yeah I know no bad words.'

'Big kick?'

'Huge. Baby doesn't like the cursing.'

'Alexis, clothes?' Shane knew she was at the point where talking about the baby's likes and dislikes could easily derail her train of thought. 'If you wear the red, will you look out of place?'

'No, Fuqua actually suggested it. She was a public defender when she was pregnant, and she said these were considered appropriate, and they've made a maternity fashion comeback of late.'

'Then go with the red. Is it the civil or criminal case today?'

'Criminal. One of my patients was arrested when acting in self-defense against a man on parole for molesting his daughters and niece.'

'Fucker.' Shane spat it out; everyone knew there was no lower animal on the criminal food chain that a kiddie-toucher.

'Exactly, so a lot is riding on my testimony. Ryan will be there, he was the lead officer on the case with Officer Watkins. I like her, she's very respectful of what I do. But if it doesn't turn the way we want it to because of me, I-'

She was cut off when Shane kissed her deeply. 'If it doesn't turn the way you want it to, you will know that you did everything you possibly could to help this girl. But you know Ian Link won't put you through the wringer on this one if he agrees the girl shouldn't be on trial in the first place.'

'I know.' Alexis waited a beat. 'You're not still jealous of him hitting on me, are you?'

He laughed, crossed to give her a hug. 'No, it's just a remarkable display of him agreeing with my good taste. When he watches your ass when you walk away, then I bristle.'

_Bristle. Brush. Paintbrush. Nursery painting, _Alexis thought. 'Right, while we're on that, when are we going to pick a weekend to decorate the nursery?'

'That's the same topic?' he asked with a little incredulity.

'It makes sense to me.'

'Alrighty then. I was thinking the weekend after our anniversary, that would be ideal because we have a lull in the flow of people-centric events. Plus I know the girls want to give you and Lindsay each a mama's weekend.'

'Oh that sounds fun,' Alexis sighed dreamily, then shook her head. 'No. A young woman's freedom hangs in the balance because of me.'

'Right, right.' Shane kissed her, felt the baby bump under his hand once more. 'Yeah, I hear you, Junior. Mama's gotta go be a rock-star, doesn't she? Call me if you need anything today, okay? Even a friendly ear to tell you about day-glow worms in Australian crystal caves.'

'Is that a thing?'

'It was on an episode of _Weird, Wonderful Wilderness_. Which also reminds me, you've got your vacation timed booked right?'

'Uh-huh, as do you, right?'

Shane nodded, wondering if she'd clue her busy pregnant brain into the fact that they'd be off during Discovery Channel's _Shark Week_ since that was predicted as the hottest week of the summer. The fact there would be a little surprise waiting for her on one of the specials was purely incidental, he mused with a little smile.

Before his wife had a chance to ask him why he looked so smug, her cellphone went off and he winked at her. 'Looks like your ride's here. I love you both so, so much and I'll talk to you soon.'

* * *

'Defense calls Doctor Alexis Weaver, Your Honour.'

Alexis took a deep breath, looked at Ryan sitting beside her. He'd been holding her hand, not once making a comment about how sweaty and clammy her palm was. 'This is it.'

'You'll be awesome, girl.'

Esposito was right, she thought as she made her way to the stand. Ryan did sound awfully white when he tried to use street slang. It was a nice little distracting thought to clear her mind as she sat down once she'd been sworn in and she began the routine of questions with the defense attorney.

'Please state your name and relationship to the accused,' she stated in a brisk business-as-usual manner.

'Doctor Alexis Weaver, I am a psychiatrist with the Manhattan Healing Hands Clinic. I specialize in teenage and youth psychiatry, and have been working with the defendant, Miss Morris, since January of this year as part of the NYPD youth rehabilitation program.'

'How often do you meet with Miss Morris?'

'Tuesdays and Thursdays, each day consists of a single sixty-minute session. It's part of her parole terms.'

'And would you say you've made progress since then?'

'Objection!' Ian stated. 'Defense is leading the witness.'

'Sustained,' Judge Nima Tappin nodded. 'Watch your step Counsellor.'

'Rephrase. Can you describe the start of your relationship with Miss Morris compared to the one you currently have?'

'Yes.' Alexis pulled out a file, read her case notes into the court record. 'At the time of our first session, the defendant was moody, withdrawn and prone to very violent hyperbole in describing her feelings about her situation. During our last session prior to the incident of May third, I observed that she was able to actively use the processing devices we'd discussed and find concrete ways of channeling her anger.'

'Describe those for the court, if you would, Doctor.'

'She'd applied to be a Big Sister at her youth home, and taking judo and boxing classes at her youth-centre.'

'Couldn't those be considered sports that encourage rather than curb violence?'

'I'd been in contact with her instructors and they'd told me Miss Morris had taken the tenants of judo philosophy to heart and the only conflict she was involved in outside the dojo was to break up a fight and remind the other two teens involved in the scuffle they weren't learning judo to beat up on each other.'

'Let's talk about the night of May third. Do you believe, given everything you've observed in her therapy sessions, that Miss Morris would have mindlessly and willfully struck out at a man without just cause?'

'No.' Alexis shook her head, noting how Ian Link didn't jump in with an objection on this one. 'No, I don't believe that.'

'Why?'

'Miss Morris has worked far too hard to move beyond what brought her to me in the first place. The only reason Miss Morris would have harmed another person was in defense of herself or another she believed was in jeopardy.'


	53. Birthdays I: 24 Weeks, 3 Days

'Mumum, when is everyone going to be here?'

RJ looked around at the table set for his mother's birthday dinner party. They'd decided to have a nice small dinner with just a few guests on the actual day and then the Fourth of July would be a super-duper big party for his parents anniversary, his sister's anniversary and his mother's birthday.

'Soon, RJ,' Beckett replied, then looked at Jojo who was counting the piece of bite-size lemon chicken in the bowl; they were having her favourite for her birthday dinner - homemade Chinese takeout. 'Jojo, bumblebee, what are you up to?'

'I'm counting the chicken, Mumum.'

'I know but...why?'

'Because,' Jojo replied in a tone Beckett recognized as one she'd used on her own mother, 'we are having chop-sticks at supper-time and not all of us are super-awesome at it like Tessi. We might drop one on the floor and then we'd not only be wasteful but someone else misses out on yummy sticky chicken! Heehee, sticky chicken.'

'Jojo, not to worry, we have plenty.'

'And there are noodles and veggies too, and wontons and pot-stickers,' RJ added, singing the last one; he loved pot-stickers. 'All things we eat with chopsticks.'

'But what if...what if I can't do it?' Jojo looked worried. 'I heard Meredeth say Tessi was little-er than me when she figured it out.'

'Then I will help you. Tessi showed Dell how to do it when she was almost five and that means he was eight years old,' RJ pointed out, then heard the doorbell ring. 'Oh, I think one of our guests is here, guys!'

'Whee!'

Jojo forgot her chicken dillemma and raced to the front door with her brother, who opened it to let in the Parrish-Robbinses minus Dave who unfortunately had to work the swing shift this week. 'Hello Lanie! Hello Carey and Violet and Finn!'

'Hi-hi! Look, we brought a gift!' Violet held out the white-plastic bag. 'It's ice-cream to have with dessert!'

'Thank you, but...' Jojo looked confused. 'We have ice cream!'

'Mama says you always take something to someone's house for a gift to say thank you,' Finn replied, giving his hosts each a hug. 'Are Alexis and Shane here yet?'

'No, Mumum said they had to go to the hospital to see the fa-cil-ities for having the baby in a couple of months today,' RJ replied, proud he'd gotten the word right. 'They will be home with Daddy soon.'

'A little girl always wants her daddy,' Lanie mused with a small smile; it widened when she saw Beckett in the kitchen. 'Hey girl! Happy birthday! What are you doing in the kitchen?'

'I kicked Rick out to go and picked up my dad and Miss Agnes and his mother so I could have some time just me and two of my babies before dinner. So I am dishing up treats for the stove.'

'We are having lots of yummy treats,' Jojo told Violet and she smiled, looped her arm through Jojo's.

'And we can practice using our chop-sticks before dinner!'

'How?'

'Come with me.'

Beckett could only shake her head; Jojo was definitely her sister's sister, worrying about things being just right and special as she planned them. It made her wonder how Alexis would handle labour, since she was such a planner herself and bringing a baby into the world meant having a plan that could be changed on a dime. Still, she knew Alexis would do what most women did and just go with what her body told her, whatever that meant in the moment.

She watched RJ and the boys head over to the living room with the girls to practice using chopsticks, then saw the door open and a tired but happy looking Alexis and Shane came in. The mother-to-be was in full-belly mode, no question, even doing that classic pregnant move of putting her hand to the small of her back to alleviate the pressure and strain. And pretty soon, she'd be a mother.

'Quite a sight to see, huh?' Lanie said, wandering up to help Beckett put the food from pots and pans into bowls.

'I know, hard to believe they're going to have a baby soon.'

'And you'll be a grandmother.'

'Either way, we're just as sexy as ever, and you'll be the hottest granny I know.'

'Granny. My little girl's gonna be a mama and that makes me a granny.'

Before she could get too sniffly, Beckett saw Finn wander into the kitchen with the expression of someone on a search-and-rescue mission.

'What's up, Finn?'

'Katie, can we have some juice boxes please? RJ and Jojo said Alexis needs a drink and since I know how to use chopsticks and don't need to practice, I'm in charge of drinks.'

'Here.' Lanie loaded up a little basket for him with a whole selection of flavours. 'You guys each get one, Alexis gets one of each.'

'Okay. Alexis, no! Go sit down! I got your drinks right here!' Finn protested when he saw Alexis come over to the kitchen island.

'Thanks Finn but I need to stretch my legs and talk to my mom.'

'Oh, okay. Mamas are the best, they know everything.'

'Off you go Finn.' Beckett ushered him out of the kitchen when she saw Alexis' eyes fill up; she passed her girl some tissues, gave her a squeezing hug around the shoulders. 'Hormones still a bitch, huh?'

'They're getting worse. And...I did that thing that you said you did when in bed with Dave, Lanie.'

'Crying during sex?'

'Mmm-hmm.' Alexis nodded as she dabbed so as not to ruin her mascara. 'We made love three times last night and every time I was a soggy mess.'

'What did Shane do?'

'Kissed my tear-stained cheeks and passed the tissues.'

Beckett smiled. 'You didn't see it but I was the same way with RJ. Total mess. I'd love being naked and physical with my man, then in the afterglow I was a total sobfest because I was half-convinced he was only doing it to shut me up.'

'So that's normal?'

'Totally, baby girl. You want some water?'

'No, I want a fizzy juice-box. Baby likes bubbles.'

'One fizzy juice-box coming up.' Just as though Alexis was one of her under-ten babies, Beckett got a juice-box from the fridge - grape, Alexis' pregnant favourite - and added it to a glass of iced club soda. When she popped in the straw, she wasn't surprised to see Alexis' eyes fill up. 'What is it, honey?'

'Don't call me honey,' Alexis snapped, then sniffled. 'I'm gonna be the mama soon, who gets the juice-boxes for her baby.'

'Aw, it's okay, darling.' Lanie gave Alexis a huge hug. 'Pretty scary business, isn't it?'

'Mm-hmm. But I guess it's normal to feel a little scared right?'

'Absolutely.'

'Everything okay here?'

The women looked over, saw Shane's concerned expression. 'Just a little mommy moment. What's up?'

'Adam just called me. Lindsay's gone into labour.'


	54. Waiters

Despite the children's protestations they had to leave right away, the grown-ups waited until Castle had returned with Jim Beckett and Miss Agnes to inform him of the change in plans and to get the food packed up to take with them to the hospital.

'Isn't it exciting Alexis?' Violet's eyes were round and wide with anticipation as she helped Finn tie his sneakers' laces. 'Lindsay's baby boy is gonna have its birthday today or tomorrow!'

'I'm thinking it'll be tomorrow. Babies like to come at their own speed,' Alexis replied and Violet's eyes went even brighter.

'If it's tomorrow I think that means I win the baby guessing contest!'

'Really?'

'Yes it does, and maybe I might be a double-winner when you have your little boy!'

'Violet.' Shane tried to keep the laugh from his voice. 'We don't know it's a boy.'

'Sure we do! Everyone knows!'

'No no no!' Jojo chanted it, slipped on her big-girl non-Velcro sandals. 'You guys are all wrong! Alexis and Shane are having a little girl!'

'Jojo, isn't it time to come over to the dark side,' Carey teased her, coming over with one of the grocery bags on his shoulder. 'You're the only one holding strong.'

'That's right, and when I'm right you're gonna wish you'd listened to me, but I will have all the dollars from the guessing contest for myself.'

'Alright, alright.' Alexis rubbed her belly where she felt her own little bundle of joy doing what had to be a cheering-for-Lindsay-and-Adam dance. 'We should get going soon, I think. Lindsay will want to see happy faces early on before things get to intense and it's and Adam and doctors only zone.'

'Alexis, can I ride with you in the taxi?' Jojo asked sweetly.

'No, Jojo, you gotta come with me and Mumum,' RJ reminded her.

'But-'

'It's Mumum's birthday dinner, no fighting,' he added and Jojo relented.

'Okay, okay. For Mumum.'

'Thanks,' Beckett said drily, sent Alexis and Shane a look. 'You know, there's no shame in having only one.'

'Thanks but I think we're going the overcompensating routes since we were both only children. Or at least Alexis was until she was twenty-two,' Shane replied, gave Alexis a little shoulder rub. 'You gonna be okay sitting for that long waiting at the hospital?'

'I'll be fine and I'm sure there's a bed or two stashed in the hospital if I need it.'

Shane nodded, then forced himself to breathe deep and remember two things - one, tonight was not his baby's turn to be born; two and more importantly, when it was his turn with Alexis he'd definitely need to keep his head. He looked to Lanie and Beckett, who had carried over the bags of the remaining food and he decided humour would be a good coping mechanism.

'You don't mind sharing your birthday feast with waiting-room warriors, do you Kate?'

'Not at all,' she replied, and she wondered if Shane knew how close he was to Kevin-Ryan first-time-daddy territory, and it wasn't even his baby. 'We'll need more anyways once everyone gets there.'

They filtered out of the loft and made it to Saint Vincent's in a timely fashion; because of the hour and the fact it seemed to be birthday central at the hospital tonight they were relegated to taking turns. Adam had already told everyone else Lindsay was on orders from Bishop that she had to keep the party animals at bay.

Apparently Harvey had shared those details with his best buddy, Shane thought as they waited in the maternity wing lounge; rather that dwell on the pang of heartache from thinking on Harvey he studied the kids all kneeling around the low-height coffee table. They were eating their Chinese food, trying to do their damnedest to use their chopsticks. Amazingly, Jojo got the hang of it quite quickly and was showing RJ and Violet how to do it.

'Alexis, here you need a snack.' Carey, having finished first, stood up and loaded up a plate which he took to Alexis. 'You need a snack for the baby.'

'Gotta keep it strong,' Finn added with a mouthful of chicken making Lanie shake her head.

'Finneran, smaller bites, baby,' she told her son, glancing over at Castle who was stuffing his face with the same voracity. 'Why do I get the feeling you and my youngest child would have been best-buddies if you'd been at school together?'

'Just our natural charm,' Castle mumbled around his own mouthful of noodles and vegetables, making Alexis laugh and talk to her baby.

'And to think you are gonna have those wonderful manners in your genes, baby.'

'Doctor Bishop!'

Everyone's heads turned to the door when they heard Jojo call out the doctor's name. He had his pale green scrubs on with his Macarena dancers scrub cap on his head, and his rimless glasses were propped on his forehead. 'Doctor Bishop, is there something wrong?' Beckett asked.

'No, but Doctor and Detective Brennan would like to see the Doctors Weaver very briefly,' he replied.

'Can I come too please and gracias?' Jojo asked politely.

'No, sweetie, you have to stay here,' Bishop told her, 'but would you like me to pass on a message?'

'Uhuh, tell Lindsay she is super-brave and she will be just fine.'

'I got you covered.' Bishop winked and Jojo's giggle stayed with Alexis as she and Shane went down the hallway to Lindsay's room. She was hooked up to an IV and a fetal monitor; her thick black hair was pulled back from her pale-olive face that was beaded with sweat as Adam counted down a contraction with her.

'There you go, there you gol, you are so awesome, my dove,' Adam murmured to her as Lindsay caught her breath and he tucked loose tendrils of her hairs behind her ears for her. 'That wasn't so bad, was it?'

'No, no, just a strong one,' she sighed, then looked over when Alexis cleared her throat. 'Lexy!'

'Hey guys!' Adam's face showed signs of fatigue already but Shane knew he wouldn't be the type to cry uncle until the after-party. 'Lindsay's only at four centimetres so we'll be here awhile yet.'

'Says you,' Lindsay retorted. 'This baby is gonna be on time for breakfast.'

'Says you,' Adam mimicked her before giving her a kiss. 'Want some girl time?'

'Please.'

'Let's go find you something to drink,' Shane told his friend, and he let his wife and her friend have their moment while he steered the almost-daddy towards the elevator to head for the cafeteria in search of something cold to drink. 'So big day is here. Is it scarier than you wedding day?'

'Yes and no,' Adam replied. 'Mostly, I'm terrified the doctor might have to do an episiotomy and Lindsay has zero pain killers.'

'That is a nasty thought.' Shane shuddered. 'Why don't we stick to happier thoughts, like what you're going to name your son or daughter?'


	55. Caregivers

It took time, as it always did when babies were coming into the world, and Alexis was definitely beginning to feel it more than she knew she would have at any other time. But she knew when her turn came Lindsay would be there with her little guy or gal, waiting patiently to hear if Alexis was a mother to a son or daughter. Dave had joined the troupers shortly after his shift was done at ten pm, just in time to see Jojo, Finn and Violet curled up like little shrimp on the sofa while Carey and RJ were belly-flopped on the floor and watching an episode of _DragonVale Tales_ on Lanie's tablet.

Beside her, Shane looked up from where he was reading on his Kindle and shook his head. 'Alexis, why don't you go home, sweetheart, the baby won't be here for awhile yet.'

'No, I made a promise to my friend and I don't go back on my word. That would make me like Theresa.'

'Right.' Shane thought of his wife's ex-friend who had been her roommate at Cambridge and gone to way of the dodo in Alexis' contact list after she'd referred to Alexis' wedding as 'just one day' less important than her job in Hong Kong. 'How about we find you a room with a bed to lie down on?'

'That works too.'

'Okay.'

Shane got up, wandered out to the nurses station where as luck had it, Honey-Milk was on nights. 'Hello, Jenny,' he started and she gave him a look she usually saved for her kids

'What does our mama to be need?'

'Somewhere quiet to lie down that isn't too far away so she feels like she's left out.'

'Okay, I think I can hook you up. Come on.'

Honey-Milk rounded the desk, then stopped when she saw Jojo walking towards them. 'Bumblebee does your mumum know you left?'

'Uh-huh, I had to ask Shane a question and Mumum said I could come to your desk, Miss Honey-Jenny.'

'Okay well you got us, what's your question?'

'Can I have a nap with Alexis? I want to read the baaaaaaa-by-' Jojo's yawn got the better of her '-a bedtime story.'

'Sure, if she says it's okay. She's starting to get cranky at night,' Shane told his little sister-in-law.

'Why? She's having a baby, that's a happy thing.'

'Right, but she has to sleep a certain way so she won't squish the baby, and that's not always comfy.'

'Ohhhhhhh I- ahhhhhhh,' Jojo yawned again, smacked her lips together. 'I can be a big girl auntie and make sure baby comes first.'

'That's my girl. Not saying you can't,' Shane reminded her, 'I'm just saying no trying to convince Alexis to change her mind if she says no.'

'Got it.'

They turned into the lounge, saw Alexis was leaning up against Beckett's shoulder for a pillow. Jojo crept over quietly, put her little hands onto Alexis. 'Big sister? Big sister, come with me and Shane, we are gonna go have a nap in a bed and read the baby a story.'

'Oh, that sounds great, little sister.' Alexis tried to shove herself out of her chair and groaned when she was unsuccessful. 'God I'm huge.'

'No, it's not you that is huge,' Jojo protested with the innate protection of a loved one's emotional well-being. 'The baby is getting big and healthy and that means your tummy has to get a little bigger for it to have a good home! Here.'

Jojo planted her feet and tugged Alexis' hand while the pregnant woman got to her feet. 'There we go!'

'Sssh, Jojo, not so loud,' Finn mumbled from his spot on the sofa.

'Sorry.'

' 'S'kay.'

As Finn was out like a light once more, Jojo led Alexis over to Shane, who escorted his two favourite redheads down the hallway towards Honey-Milk, who stood by an open doorway.

'This room isn't in use for another few hours. There's a little girl who will be coming in to have surgery in the morning and we'll have to changeover the linens anyways,' she explained.

'What kind of surgery? Will she be okay?' Jojo asked, putting her little tote bag 'purse' on the chair beside the hospital bed Alexis was already laying on.

'Of course sweetheart. She's a horse-jumper, like Zara Phillips and she hurt her shoulder when she fell off her horse in a training practice.'

'Is the horsie okay?'

'Yes,' Honey-Milk told her gently, 'the horsie is okay too.'

'Okay then.' Jojo turned to look at Alexis and in a move that had both Shane and Honey-Milk choking up a little, she stroked Alexis hair, as her big sister was already out for the count. 'Sweet dreams almost-mama big sister. You look after baby now, and I'll read you both a story.'

With that she sat down and pulled out her copy of _Heidi and the Purple Moose_ and began to quietly read, her little finger pointing at the page so she wouldn't lose her spot. Shane pulled up a chair beside her, amazed how Jojo was still awake. 'Sweetie, aren't you tired?'

'I had a couple of sips of Mumum's hot-chocolate, I would have had more but it didn't have enough sugar in it. Too funny tasting.'

'Ah.' As Shane knew Beckett had actually gotten a mocha latte - an unusual request from her usual skinny vanilla - the little girl's alertness suddenly made much more sense. 'Well, after story time, try to get some shut-eye, okay?'

Jojo nodded and when she was done whispering the story to Alexis and the baby, she put her book away, crawled into Shane's lap.

'Shane?'

'Hmm?'

'How come you're not sleepy?'

'I'm used to getting up at funny hours for work,' he replied, cuddling Jojo close. 'People die at all times of the day.'

'No, Shane don't say things like that! Lindsay and Adam's baby is having a birthday today.'

'Okay. For now we'll just rest.'

Sometime around midnight, Jojo finally conked out and Shane held her close gently rocking without even realizing it when she fussed or fretted.

'Too bad you're having a boy, according to the Junior crowd. You're really good with that little girl.'

Shane looked up and saw Adam standing there, face ravaged with tears, eyes puffing from weeping. 'Dude, what are you doing here? Is everything okay?'

'Can you wake Alexis up?'

'Sure.'

'Shaaaaaane?' Jojo yawned her brother-in-law's name as she felt him move, put her on the chair beside him. 'What's going on?'

'Adam's here, and we gotta wake Alexis up.' Shane gently nudged Alexis' shoulder, saw her eyes open full of sleep-clouds. 'Hey my little strawberry, Adam's here.'

'Adam?' Fatigue was gone in a microsecond and she sat up little a little assistance from her husband. 'Adam, what is it? What's wrong?'

'Nothing, absolutely nothing.' He gave a little laugh. 'The baby's here. I'm a daddy.'


	56. Birthdays II

'You're a daddy, Adam?'

Alexis squeaked it out as she hugged his as best as she could. She felt him shudder out a happy sob, so she patted his back before he moved on to Shane. 'Boy or girl? Is it very big? Oh what does it look like?'

'No, Alexis, we have to wait until we are with everyone else,' Jojo told her, holding Shane's hand, and Adam grinned foolishly.

'Actually, I need a moment alone with Alexis so why don't you and Shane go to the waiting room to telling everyone I'll be in there in a few?'

'Okay!'

Shane and Jojo headed out and Adam took Alexis' hands in his, the grin plastered to his face. 'It's a boy, Lex! We have a beautiful son, he's got my nose and Lindsay's lips and cheeks, and his skin is light than Lindsay's but darker than mine.'

'A boy! Just like the kids thought! A beautiful little boy.'

'Beautiful big boy,' he corrected her. 'And hour and a half of pushing, and out he came, all eight pounds and eight ounces of him.'

'Eight pounds eight and no drugs? Fuck me! Yeah, I know, no bad words.' Alexis rubbed her belly underneath her navel. 'What's his name?'

'That's what I wanted to talk to you alone about. We're naming him after you.'

'Me?'

'Yeah.' Adam felt his throat closed up, had no shame when his eyes welled up. 'If it weren't for you, we would never have met, have the wonderful life together we have and we sure as hell wouldn't have our son.'

'Oh Adam.' Alexis began to weep happy, touched tears, scrubbed the heels of her hands over her cheeks. 'So he's Alexis Brennan?'

'Close. We went with Alexander Jarrad, after my dad of course, but we're calling him Zane for short.'

'Zane Brennan. That sound just perfect. How's Lindsay?'

'Oh Alexis.' Adam put his hand to his heart. 'My angel is a warrior. She didn't have any cuts but the doctors said absolutely no visitors until after dinnertime tomorrow since she needs to sleep.'

'Understandable. What time is it anyways?'

'Almost fourty-thirty. Zane was officially born at three-thirty eight.'

'That's a long night,' Alexis agreed.'

'Totally worth it, and we'll do it again when we have more,' Adam agreed, and walked with Alexis over to the lounge where he wasn't surprised to see everyone, even the little kids, all awake and waiting with baited breath for his news.

'So?' Lanie implored him. 'Do we have a little boy or girl?'

'It's a boy. We have a son.'

They all cheered quietly so as not to disturb the rest of the floor with their joy and Alexis sniffled when she saw the kids all surround Adam with hugs; she could only think of how they would do that when her baby was born.

'What is his naaaaaaaaaaaaame?' Violet asked on a huge yawn. 'How...how biiiiiig?'

'Does he look a lot like you or a lot like Lindsay?' RJ added.

'What about his eyes, are they the same colour?' Carey always had to ask that one; he wanted to know if there was another one like him he had to wisdom on to.

'His name is Alexander Jarrad Brennan but we are calling him Zane,' Adam told them excited and Jojo nodded.

'So we don't confuse him with our Alexis, right?'

'Exactly. He's seven pounds and eleven ounces, and nineteen and a half inches long,' the new father went on, 'and he's got light brown skin like Lindsay's and dark eyes, we can't tell yet if they'll be green like mine or brown like Lindsay's.'

'When can we see him?' Finn inquired, tugging on Adam's shirt hem gently; he was the shortest, even though he was older than Jojo, and he wanted to make sure he wasn't forgotten. 'Is he napping now?'

'The doctor said that Zane and his mama need a big nap and just some quiet time before they have visitors, so everyone will get to see him around dinner time.'

'That's a good idea.' Jojo nodded seriously. 'I think we all need some nap-times.'

'Agreeeeeee-duh,' Violet yawned. 'Oof, yes definitely nap times.'

'We'll all be back for a visit soon,' Shane told Adam, wading through the dispersing see of children to get to his friend and give him a hug 'Anything you want us to bring?'

'Just food,' Adam laughed. 'Lindsay is hungry and the doctor and the book said while she's breast feeding, especially in the first two months.'

'Mister New Daddy Adam, Alexis has a bumpy too,' Jojo reminded him. 'She needs to go home now. Plenty of time to chat about the baby later.'

* * *

They did return later, after a very long sleep; Alexis was glad her little sister was a bossy little boot and had made her go home. She pressed a hand to her mouth, the other to her back as she rode up the elevator with Shane to the maternity wing.

'Sweetie, if you're still tired, our friends will understand,' he told her, catching her yawning discreetly.

'They named their first born child after me. I have to visit now.'

Shane heard the tone in her voice and shook his head; he prayed their child, son or daughter, wasn't as rockheaded as Alexis; that would make for a very uncomfortable birth. They stepped off the elevator and were directed to Lindsay's room where they found the new addition with his mother and father - Lindsay was just patting Zane on the back, clearly having just fed him.

'Knock-knock,' Shane said softly, and Adam and Lindsay both looked up. 'Is the little man up for visitors now?'

'Of course!' Adam got up from his chair, held it out for Alexis. 'Come say hi.'

Alexis smiled with tears in her eyes as she took a seat beside her friend, now a mom. The baby was just gorgeous, with dark chocolate brown hair and equally dark eyes and his little hands in baby mittens so he wouldn't scratch his face.

'Oh, Linds, he's just gorgeous!'

'Can you believe it?' New mother love shone from every pore of Lindsay's exhausted face. 'I'm a mama now, Lex! Me!'

'I know, baby girl,' Alexis told her, a happy little sob choking her up. 'I'm so happy for you, and so proud of you. Was it a hard birth?'

'Yeah, he didn't want to come out when I was at ten centimetres so I took it easy, didn't force it and he was out in about forty minutes or so.'

'Did you swear a lot?'

'I sure did, didn't I boo?' Lindsay cooed at Zane, who creaked and gurgled and cuddled against his mother's body. 'I didn't even swear like that when Daddy and I were in Italy and we drove into that ditch outside of Naples. No, I didn't.'

'Why don't I take big papa here to get us all a bite to eat, maybe a shower and you ladies can have mama talk?' Shane suggested.

'That sounds great.'


	57. Good Mornings: 26 Weeks, 4 Days

Alexis awoke, groaning in frustration. It was her day off - she'd decided to take two days off, owing to the fact her body just needed a rest. After returning home from a conference in Wilmington that had been duller than snails, she'd tried to make it up to her patients by having some longer than usual nights at her office. When she received word that one of her patients had re-offended and was going back to juvie which meant she wouldn't see him as frequently, she'd reached her breaking point.

And it couldn't have come at a better time either. Alexis found herself waking up that morning and turning towards her husband, asleep beside her with his arm protectively around her belly and wanting nothing more than to just screw him senseless. The waves of it were coming and going less frequently but when they were on, man oh man, she was a basket case until she had her way with her sexy pathologist.

'My sexy man,' she murmured, tracing her fingertips over his cheek. 'My sexy, sexy man.'

Shane snorted, then went quiet before he stirred. His blue eyes were cloudy, then cleared when he saw her face. 'Hey. Didn't think you'd be awake yet. Thought the plan was to sleep in today and tomorrow and Saturday and Sunday?'

'It is but I'm also twenty-six weeks pregnant and...' Alexis leaned forward to whisper in his ear, 'I'm also horny as a teenager on prom night.'

'Oh. Well then, let's take care of that, shall we?'

'Just mind the garden hose, lover.'

Shane had to laugh. After the incident of the Braxton-Hicks on Memorial Day weekend, he and Alexis had mutually agreed that the offer of the hydration pump from Bishop was definitely one they should take him up on. They'd now had it in there for about a week and a bit, and despite the irritation it provided during a couple of intimate moments, it was proving to be handy - Alexis used it as prescribed and she'd had only one other instance of Braxton-Hicks. Fortunately since they both knew what to expect now, it severely cut the freak-out factor.

All of which, Shane knew, was unimportant when his bride was soft and sexy and blooming with baby, and also buck-ass naked in their bed telling him she wanted the really good kind of wake-up sex. She'd taken to sleeping in the nude again, not because putting on pyjamas reminded her of her size but more because the weather was, as the forecast predicted, hot, humid and little to no rain in sight. It also made these moments easier to enjoy, when they didn't run the risk of Alexis struggling out of her clothes and then breaking into sobs at how huge and un-fuckable she was.

Shane took her face in his hands, kissed her sweetly and tenderly, letting his tongue outline her lips. 'Lex,' he murmured against her mouth, 'how do you want me to love you today, baby?'

'Like I'm the sexiest woman in the world.'

'That's a given. Other than that.'

'Like...like...' Alexis rolled her eyes at herself. 'I can't describe it.'

'How about I tell you a little dirty bedtime story?'

'Don't those usually work better when you're having sex before bed?'

'We're in bed, about to make love.' Shane coyly shook his head, smiled. 'I don't see what the issue is.'

Alexis smiled; he had such an annoying way of charming her into a mushy love-ball some days. 'Okay.'

Shane told her of one of his fantasies that had them going to Woodstock and sneaking off to make love in the woods; with each little word he whispered to her, he could feel her arousal grow - the way she moved against him, the way she grew damp against his hand as he touched her between her thighs, the hardness of her overly-sensitive nipples when he rolled his fingertips over them. By the time he'd finished, her reaction to him had him going hard as iron, and he gently nudged her so she knelt in their bed, hands gripped the headboard.

'Here, my love.' Shane slipped a small stack of pillows beneath her belly, then stroked his hands down her back. 'That feel better?'

'So much better,' she sighed, then let out a little gasp as felt him enter her from behind, easing his way in gently as though she were a virgin on her wedding night. 'Shane?'

'Yeah?'

'You can go harder. I want you to.'

'Okay.'

Pressing one hand to the small of her back and keeping the other on her hip to steady her balance Shane leaned forward and pressed home, eliciting a low guttural and very satisfied moan from his very pregnant wife. 'Like that?'

'Mmm, harder.'

'Harder?'

'Uh-huh.' Alexis nodded, eyes sinking shut as she felt the delicious tremors slip through her body at the feel of her lover inside her. 'I'll tell you if it's too rough.'

'Yes.'

Shane kept his rhythm strong and steady, feeling how Alexis responded to him until she clenched and shuddered, her pleasure escaping in one long sound of his name, almost like an operatic diva hit the final crashing note of her aria. It was the sound Shane took with him as he followed her over the edge.

Spent, he dropped his forehead to Alexis' shoulder, kissed her soft skin. 'Oh, yeah, baby,' he chuckled, 'best way to wake-up ever.'

'Sure, I- hey!'

'What?' Sleepy after was gone now, and Shane bolted up right, slipping out of Alexis as she twisted and plunked herself on her butt on the bed. 'What is it?'

'This!'

She took his hand and pressed it to her belly and Shane laughed when he felt the baby kicking and squirming like a grown man being forced to go to a boring-ass piece of theatre. 'Wowzers, the little one is not happy with you!'

'Nah, we're cool, aren't we baby?' Alexis smiled softly as she rubbed her belly and the baby began to settle as she took some deep breaths. 'Shane, what are you doing?'

'Don't move, don't move a muscle, a hair, an eyelash.' He leaped out of bed naked and searching, rifling through his drawers until he found it - the camera they used to take all their naughty, personal photos on. He turned back and began to snap pictures of his wife. 'You look so fucking hot right now, Alexis.'

'For a preggo-'

'No, not for a preggo, that's just incidental. You look so damn sexy and juicy and when you do Real Live Women this year, you'll give Andrea and her pregnant pictures a real run for their money.'

'You think so?'

'Well I maybe a tad prejudice since you just finished fu-screwing my brains out,' Shane corrected himself, remembering how the baby kicked at Alexis when she registered hearnig bad words, 'but yes I do believe so.'

'I thought you were screwing my brains out.'

'Call it even?'

'If you make me breakfast, sure.'

Shane kissed Alexis, then her belly, before finding some clothes. 'Deal.'


	58. Treats: 27 Weeks, 1 Day

'Hey big daddy!'

'That's big papa to you, Detective.'

Shane didn't even have to look up from the body he was examining to know he was speaking with Javier Esposito. 'Or big papi if you like,' he added, 'or even better, we can give this poor sod our undivided attention.'

Esposito chuckled as he pulled on latex gloves and crouched down beside Shane to examine what had once been a man before he'd had his ass kicked into the afterlife. 'What do we have here?'

'Face is too beat up to make a positive ID but the wallet says he used to be Sam Gauthier, age forty-five of this address on East Canal Street. He got his ticket punched between two and three this morning.'

'Yeah, the call came in just a little past seven so he's good and fresh. COD?'

'Undetermined on scene but at a guess I'm going with blunt force trauma by sporting equipment.'

'So a baseball bat?'

'Bingo.'

'They why not say that?' Espostio asked; when Shane pursed his lips, the detective cottoned on. 'Ah, baby mama issues?'

'She's taking some time off right now, just a few days, and I can't help like feeling leaving her alone at home is a bad-hubby move.'

'Why is she taking time off?' Esposito backed up, waited for Shane to reply once the OCME assistants had come in and moved the body.

'One of her patients violated his parole and is back in juvie, so she won't get to work with him while he's reserving time. She's taking it hard because she thought she was getting through to him so she's taking a day or two off.'

'Good plan.' Esposito shook his head. 'Sometimes that happens and taking the small days off now means no longer term burnout.'

'Exactly what she said,' Shane agreed.

'You got anything special planned?'

'We're going out for dinner tonight.'

Esposito laughed. 'No, I mean, to make her feel happy about the baby, and no I don't mean sex. That is a given.'

'I...hadn't thought about it. We're doing the baby shower after the baby's here, and we're going shopping again after our anniversary for the furniture that isn't a crib. Thanks, by the way, for your friend's number, Alexis is going to love it.'

'The girls are taking her for a mama's weekend to the Hamptons while we do the nursery, but...well, shit, this sucks.' Shane stripped off his gloves, shoved at his waving black hair. 'I'm a rotten hubby.'

'No, you're not, Shane,' Esposito started, but his friend was already steaming ahead.

'I should have thought of something like this before now, I mean she's already over the half-way mark. What should I be getting her?'

'Well I know Meredeth loved matching tees for her and the babies, but that's a little closer to the due-date kind of gift.'

'What about a whole bunch of cute rainbow onsies?'

'That could work.'

'Doctor Weaver?' One of the assistants came back. 'We're ready to head out.'

'Thanks, Espo, see you soon.'

Esposito watched his friend take off and wondered what the hell he'd done.

Downstairs in the OCME van, Shane pulled out his cellphone and dialed up the first of his friends who owed him a baby-related favour. When he got him on the phone, Shane didn't want to think about why his pal sounded so relaxed and happy so early in the morning.

'Hey bro.' Jeremy's voice was as sleepy as a basket of kittens in the afternoon sunshine. 'What's happening?'

'Just got off the night shift and am calling in my marker.'

'Oh Jesus. What do you need?'

'We're going shopping, my main man.' Shane had no guilt in admitting he relished the mental picture of Jeremy blanching; Jeremy Channing was a strong and capable man but it took numerous threats and much cajoling to get him to go shopping. 'For Alexis and the baby.'

'Oh shit, bro-'

'Oh shit bro nothing. I stayed over on my babysitting night with the boys no questions asked when you and Sloan decided to get a room in a hotel after going out dancing on your Saturday night on the town.'

'Yeah, I know.' There was the sound of Jeremy scraping his hand over his unshaven face. 'Tell me you're bringing reinforcements.'

'Body is next on my hit list. Oh and wear something comfy on your feet. It's gonna be a long day.'

* * *

'That is a good idea Alexis, are you drinking lots? Tea, juice, water? No caffeine right?'

'Of course not, Shir, Shane even makes me drink root beer when I want a soft drink because it has no caffeine in it.'

Shir smiled at Alexis from the Skype video-chat screen. 'I am so glad you suggested we do this more often. And you know we'll be there when they baby comes, right?'

'Naturally. You don't mind that my dad's putting you up in a hotel, right? We just own't have the room with-'

'Alexis, _shani_, relax. Don't give my grandbaby worry-wrinkles before it's born.'

'I won't.'

The door opened, and Shane came through like a hurricane, dropping bags by the kitchen table. 'Alexis, my little strawberry, I'm home,' he announced, 'and I have treats.'

She looked over and her eyes went wide when she saw the bags Shane, Body and Jeremy were dragging in. 'Shir, I have to go, your son has brought home half of Lower Manhattan with him. Shopping, not people. Bye-bye.'

'Surprise!' Shane trilled as he helped Alexis to her feet while she tugged out her earbuds.

'Surprise is right! What did you do?'

'Went shopping for you and the baby.'

'He dragged us to eleven different stores,' Jeremy said in a tone that told Alexis her husband would pay for it severely. 'And he didn't even buy us lunch.'

'Poor guy. I think there's some leftover steak in the fridge, help yourself, make a sandwich.'

'Leftovers? Pfft, we're going to treat my sherpas to the best pizza takeout,' Shane scoffed and Body had to arch an eyebrow.

'Dude, you already spent enough today, don't you think?'

'I'll buy the lunch,' Alexis offered. 'What brought this on?'

'Esposito mentioned that I should treat you and I realized I haven't done that enough so I am making up for it now.'

'Shane.' Touched at his sweetness and eager-puppy attitude, Alexis crossed to him and kissed him deeply, the kind that had the other men looking elsewhere. 'You are treating me so, right, baby, you are and I love you so much.'

'I love you right back. Now come and see what we got!'

'You better sit down, Alexis,' Body told her, already pulling out a chair for her and kissing her cheek. 'You want something to drink?'

'Mmm, yes, and the phone, to order our pizza.'

'I got it covered,' Jeremy informed them, already checking out the selections on the Petrelli's menu on the fridge and clearly forgetting his irritation with Shane. 'You let us boys treat you right today.'


	59. Party Planners I: 28 Weeks, 3 Days

'Are you sure she doesn't suspect a thing?'

Shane laughed as he listened to Alexis getting ready for what she thought was lunch with Lanie and Honey-Milk at Lanie's house; little did she know of the excitement in store for her. 'I'm sure,' she told Lanie, 'she's been so preoccupied with work and getting things ready for the nursery this would be the last thing on her mind.'

'How is she doing? I know she took her patient's return to juvie hard.'

'She's alright now, she's gotten in to speak with the staff there and told them she has a vested interest in this kid so that helped.' Shane looked up, saw his pregnant bride coming out of the bedroom in her party best. 'Alright, the little mama is ready to go!'

'Alright, we'll see you shortly, guys.'

Shane hung up and smiled at Alexis. 'You look so beautiful, sweetheart.'

'I feel it today too, even though I'm enormous.' She did a little spin in what she thought of as her Popsicle dress - a loose cotton sundress that fell to the ankle, in cherry-pink, lime green and white stripes. Her toes were a matching shade of green and her hair was loose over her shoulders.

'You're a blooming tulip, my sweet.'

'Oh shut up,' Alexis teased him. 'My hands are so swollen I can't even wear my wedding rings anymore.'

It was true, she'd been forced to remove from her hands and wear them on a chain around her neck now, and Shane remembered the river of tears she'd cried over that moment. 'I know, honey but-'

'What did I say about that word?'

'Right, sorry. Lunchtime?'

'Lunchtime.'

* * *

They made it to Lanie and Dave's on time, despite Alexis' insistence being so big was making her walk slower these days. Shane could only shake his head and smile; she really didn't get it - she thought herself an elephant and all he could see was their baby growing safe and healthy inside her body.

'Wonder what Lanie made for us? She's a good cook despite what she says,' Alexis pondered as Shane rung the doorbell. When they heard a muffled 'it's open' from inside, they let themselves in, and Alexis nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw the living room.

'SURPRISE ALEXIS!'

Alexis pressed a hand to her heart as she studied the sea of little faces and the banner they held up that read 'New Buddy Party' and had all the kids' names scrawled in glittering paint. 'Oh my goodness! What is this!'

'It's a party for your baby!' Violet trilled, wiggle-dancing back and forth with Kelley and Tessi.

'But you guys already had the party in the Hamptons.'

'No no no.' Finn shook his head. 'That was for the baby's clothes from us. This is all about toys!'

'Toys fo' bee-bee,' Nate added, stepped forward with Trini, Mallory, and Heddie. 'Haffa be han-som an' fun!'

Alexis watched as the kids parted like the red sea to reveal a table stacked with brightly wrapped parcels and felt her eyes well up. 'You guys are too much.'

'No!' Kelley all but howled it. 'No, no, no! No tears! I don't care if they are happy or not! They will make me all teary and then we'll all be soggy little friends.'

'And we don't want that,' Leo agreed solemnly. 'This is a happy day, is right.'

'First it is snack time,' RJ said. 'Alexis and the baby came here thinking they were getting lunch, so we all have to go wash our hands and get ready for snack time!'

'Right, RJ.' Rosie, ever her father's little drill sergeant rounded up the small children. 'Anyone having a birthday and turning five this year, come with me. The rest go with Carey and Dell.'

They split up, leaving Alexis to look in wonderment at her husband and friends, who had been taking pictures and video-taping the whole greeting the children had given her. 'Shane? Lanie, Jenny, what did you guys do?'

'Let our children spoil their unborn buddy,' Lanie replied, setting down her camera and grinning as she embraced the mama-to-be. 'Finn, Carey and Violet got their heads together with RJ and Jojo who told them the theme of the nursery, and RJ told Trini, who told her siblings and Tessi told Dell, and well you see where this went.'

'I can't believe they were so thoughtful,' Alexis sniffled. 'Better get these out now so they won't freak out.'

'Good plan,' Honey-Milk agreed. 'Also, your lunch won't get soggy that way either.'

'What is lunch, anyways?'

'We are having fried chicken, vegetable soup and Cesar salad, and for dessert, a little surprise.'

'Oh man, more surprises?'

'Surprises are fun, Alexis!' Jojo caught the tail end of her sister's conversation as she dried her hands and came over to give the baby bump a pet. 'Aren't they, my little bumpy niece? Don't go growing boy parts on me, okay? We gotta show everyone I was right. Mwah!'

She kissed the belly, then giggled. 'Alexis, the baby bumped my nose!'

'It's doing its hungry squirming dance.' Alexis rubbed her tummy. 'I am definitely hungry.'

'Then you can go first while we wait for our friends. Our newest little friend is so very little it gets to go first.'

Alexis looked to Shane and the women. 'You don't mind?'

'Not at all. Preggo gets what preggo wants,' Honey-Milk told her. 'What do you want to drink, sweetie?'

'Grape juice and club soda on ice, please,' Alexis replied as she sat down on the sofa and edged forward so she wouldn't feel like a flaked out humpback whale as she had her feed. A few minutes later, when the younger children were all washed for lunch and ready to go, Nessa, Nate and Heddie came over with their chicken and salad already cut into toddler sized bites.

'Mama says your bumpy doesn't have very long to go for its birthday,' Nessa said, daintily dragging a piece of chicken through a puddle of plum sauce. 'How long now?'

'Well today is June twenty fourth, right? That means less than three months.'

'Thassa long time 'till,' Nate observed, crunching his salad. 'We 'till haffa wai' fo' bee-bee.'

'It'll be here sooner than you think.'

'You gonna know if it a boy or girl bumpy be-fo' birt'day time?' Heddie inquired. 'Or it be a suh-pise?'

'It'll be a surprise,' Alexis replied, then wiggled around, let out a huge burp. 'Oh, pardon me, guys!'

'It okay, Lessis.' Nate waved her off. 'Mama say bumpies mean lossa buh-pin' and 'tinky-pants.'

'Did she?'

'Mm-hmm. I as' her, she way 'mart. She have two bee-bees, me an' big buh-ro. She know.'

'But don't take too long to eat, okay?' Nessa told her. 'We have a special afternoon planned and we can't have little ones needing a nap spoiling it.'

'No-no-no,' Heddie agreed, and patted Alexis' tummy. 'It a su-pah 'pishal day fo' ou' buddy.'


	60. Party Planners II

When lunch was done, Alexis realized they were only through phase one of the party - there was still the mountain of gifts on the table, which made her happy but also a little guilty and squeamish.

'Lanie,' she said as her friend came over, ushering the stragglers from lunch-time into the living room, 'why are you letting all these kids spend their parents money?'

'It's our money!' Tessi retorted. 'We told our mamis and daddies we wanted to buy the baby presents so they gave us all extra chores to earn it!'

'Really? Like what?'

'Well, at our house, I had to set the table every day for supper for two weeks,' Rosie explained. 'That got me a dollar a day.'

'An' I help fol' towas an' socks!' Heddie added, 'and tha' mean I get fiffy cents fo' each one!'

'We all wrapped them ourselves too,' Leo added shyly, 'but Violet had to help me because I'm a little clumsy.'

'That's okay, Leo-Lion, I helped my brothers too.' Violet scooted closer, patted Leo's shoulder. 'Boys are good at some things better and girls are good at some things better. Right Mama?'

'Exactly right, my sweet.'

Alexis eased forward on her chair, then grinned when Trini and Carey came over, put a crown on her head while Lanie, Honey-Milk and Shane snapped pictures. They each kissed her cheeks and gave her hugs before Carey turned and held out his hand to little Nate.

'You're up first big guy.'

'Ah-cause I lit-till-ess?'

'Exactly.'

'Oh-kee!' Nate found his gift in the pile, handed it over with a kiss on Alexis' bumpy. 'This fo' you', bee-bee.'

'Thanks, Nate.' Alexis tore through the paper, and grinned when she saw the box. 'It's a little teddy bear!'

'Ev-ee-body nee' a teddy,' Nate explained, pleased that even though he was the smallest he could still be the authority on something. 'He no' haffa name.'

'Okay, we can pick something out later.'

'Oh-kee!' Nate gave her another hug, smiling when he saw Lanie and Shane and Honey-Milk took pictures before he took his seat once more, gave Heddie nudge. 'You' turn now.'

Alexis watched, fascinated as Heddie came up, repeating the process only her gift was a little stuffed octopus. 'An octopus, Heddie?'

'Uh-huh, they have eigh' arms so that means four hugs all at once!'

'Gives new mean to the term 'group hug',' she giggled. 'Mmm, thank you, sunshine.'

Alexis should have guess the children had literally meant it when they said the party was all about toys after she opened the third gift to find a stuffed dalmatian puppy-dog from Devon, his favourite kind he wanted to share with the new baby. By the time they were down to the last gift - a neon green brontosaurus with an acorn on its back; a joint gift from Dell and Tessi who said it was a dino dressed up as a turtle for Hallowe'en - there was a mountain of shredded paper and enough stuffed toys to fill a plushy ark. And not just cuddly baby animals either, there were all kinds, so many Alexis was fairly certain she and the baby could do their own home version of _Crocodile Hunter_. She particularly liked the hammerhead shark from Nessa, who was so excited that she was going to learn to SCUBA dive and wanted to teach the baby all about the ocean and diving; Shane was particularly excited to see the camel named Sir Bedevere from Jojo.

'Jojo, sweetie, why did you pick a camel?' he asked her as the older children helped with clean up while the younger ones organized the toys for Shane and Alexis to take home.

'Is-ra-eel is in the desert, so she might like to have a desert camel to remember you come from there too,' she explained, and Shane had to chuckle.

'There aren't any camels in Israel, at least not the last time I was there, bumblebee,' he told her gently.

'Oh. Okay, new plan,' Jojo decided, making her brother-in-law laugh, 'camels are fun and...and...what's that word that means only one of them is like that?'

'Unique?'

'Yes! Yoo-neek,' she repeated. 'No one else I know has a camel.'

'Much less a knighted one,' Alexis added. 'How'd get that honour?'

'Ummm...' Jojo thought about it then brightened. 'He was made fun of at knight-horsie suh-chool but he was the only one buh-rave enough to go with the knight into the castle to get the puh-rincess away from the dragon!'

'Well, that would be quite the feat,' Shane agreed, then grinned when Max came over, tugged his shirt hem to get his attention. 'Hey Max Power, what's shaking bro?'

'Vi-o-let's mami says it is time for you to go find the last suh-puh-rise for Alessis.'

Shane glanced at his watch and nodded in agreement. 'You're right.'

'What? Where are you going for what other surprise?' Alexis looked upset. 'Where are you going? You can't miss any baby stuff!'

'Relax, my sweet little strawberry.' Shane gave his wife a kiss that elicited a little 'ewwwwwie' from Max, then tapped her nose. 'This is one time you'll thank me later.'

'I'd rather kick your ass now,' she snapped, then heard Max gasp simultaeneous to the baby booting her in the spleen.

'Alessis! You can' say things like that! You're gonna be a mami! You haf-ta be an ess-ample!'

'I'm sorry Max. Really, I am. Wanna know something though?'

'What?'

'The baby reminds I can't use bad words by kicking me.'

'Oh that's a good idea.' Max gave the tummy a rub and giggled. 'He's wiggly Alessis! I think he's gonna be a soccer suh-tar like Carey and Duncan.'

'You think so?'

'Mm-hmm.' He nodded seriously. 'And I can teach him and Nessa too, all about the oceans.'

'Glad we've got that covered, but what about the trees and the skies?' Alexis asked him, her fury at her husband taking off subsiding in Max's cuteness; maybe a little boy wouldn't be so bad after all.

Before Max could answer, Honey-Milk clapped her hands together and informed them all that it was time for cake and punch for dessert; the entire time they scarfed down chocolate cake with raspberry mousse in lieu of icing Alexis could only wonder what was so important that her husband would skip out on chocolate cake.

When he came to pick her up, the moment they were out of range of little ears and the baby was settled in her belly, Alexis blurted out, 'Alright, Mister Mystery, what the fuck was so important that you'd skip out on kiddie cuteness and cake?'

'You'll see,' was his only reply and Alexis wanted to kick him in the crotch.

She stayed stewing in her own mutinous thoughts about how best to punish her husband the entire trip back to their apartment, and Shane opened the door with a flourish. 'There's the surprise.'

Alexis' eyes went round when she saw what - or rather who - was in the living room.

'Chaim! Shir!'


	61. InLaws: 30 Weeks, 2 Days

Some years, summer came gently to New York City, a sweet wispy fairy that breathed green life into every park and tree and flower in the urban jungle. Other times she was a flirtatious little senorita, teasing the city with hints of heat and warmth.

And then there were the years when she was an evil Eastern European washer-woman, hell-bent on making everyone's lives miserable until they were as cranky as she was. That was the only way Alexis could think to describe the sudden heat wave that gripped Manhattan; it was like a switch was flipped overnight on June thirtieth, making Alexis groan and moan as she lay naked in bed but for her bra and panties beside Shane who was just as sweaty and fussy in his boxers.

'Dear God in heaven,' he sighed, scratching his belly beneath his navel. 'What the hell is wrong with our landlord that he can't be chuffed to put in Central Air into our units?'

'I know my unit could do with some sex to make this kind of sweat worth it,' Alexis agreed, running her hands in figure eights over her belly which seemed to be even bigger than a week ago. 'But your parents are here so no nookie until they're gone. Not even sleeping naked, either, just in case.'

'Alexis, don't say nookie.'

'Why?'

'If I can't say boobies, you can't say nookie, that's one each.' Shane sat up, felt the damp cotton peel away from his back. 'I'm half-Israeli, you'd think I'd be used to this kind of weather.'

Shane glanced at the clock. 'Ugh, it's almost five, I think we should get up before we get in trouble for sleeping away the afternoon even though it's too damn hot to even breathe easy.'

'Five?' Alexis' eyes went round. 'How have we been like little slugs for so long and I didn't notice it?'

'Sweetie, you've been very busy,' he reminded her, rubbing his hand over her swollen belly with a wide-grin. 'And doing a great job of it I might add. Remember, Bishop said it's natural to sleep longer hours now since your body is using so much energy since the baby is so much bigger now.'

'Still makes me feel lazy.'

'Man, I am so glad you decided on a drug-enhanced birth, Alexis,' Shane laughed, and Alexis propped herself on elbows.

'Why's that?'

'Because then you won't be in so much pain when our baby comes out just as rock-headed and stubborn as you are.'

'I'm taking that as a complete compliment,' Alexis replied, making Shane laugh before he kissed her, opened the bedroom door to head for the bathroom when Alexis sat up like a pregnant mummy.

'Can you smell that, baby?'

'Papa's in the kitchen,' Shane grinned with all the excited of a little boy on his birthday. 'Smells like he's making us a traditional breakfast too.'

'Oh boy.'

'Hey, hey easy speedy, don't go turning an ankle,' Shane said when Alexis leaped out of bed and all but sprinted to the kitchen in her undies. He watched her stop short when she saw Chaim standing there and she suddenly realized she was in her underwear; fortunately, before Chaim could turn around from the stove and Alexis could head back into the bedroom, Shane appeared with her silken maternity robe. 'Here, you might want that,' he murmured.

'Thanks babe.'

Obviously having chosen discretion, Chaim turned around as though they had just appeared in the kitchen with a smile. 'Good morning almost parents. Alexis, please sit down before you make me nervous.'

'Okay.' Obliging her father-in-law, she did so, belting her robe as she did. 'What smells so delicious?'

'We are having a traditional Dutch breakfast for our supper, since you needed your rest and weren't hungry at lunch time.' Chaim pointed proudly to the table, already set and loaded with food. 'We've got stroopwaffeln, Scheine, and those bread-rolls from your friend with the girl's hair-'

'Body?'

'Yes, Boh-dee,' Chaim repeated, emphasizing the syllables equally, 'and roasted potato salad. Plus we will have three kinds of jam for our rolls, and cheese too, and Shiri is bringing fruit when she comes back, and of course the bacon, the good thick European kind.'

'I thought good Jews don't eat bacon?' Alexis inquired; the baby had woken her appetite.

'I'm a good Jew, but am also a proud Dutchman and we like our bacon.' Chaim didn't bother adding he'd been raised in an orthodox home and he'd rebel at every chance he got; it would ruin the good brunch mood. 'We're spoiling you and my son and my grandbaby before we have to leave on Monday.'

'Careful, Papa,' Shane told him, 'Alexis is still being stubborn about people letting her do things for herself.'

'Why? She has the baby inside her, it is our job to worship the mir...micar...please, Scheine, to help?'

'Miracle?'

'Yes thank you, that thing.' Chaim pulled a plate from the cupboard, lined it with paper towels to pat dry the grease from the meat. 'We already know the baby will come out with a head of stone-'

'I think you mean rock-headed,' Alexis giggled.

'Whatever. The baby will be stubborn and we will need to pick a name for to suit him or her.'

'We can call the baby Rocky or Rachel if it's a girl.'

'Too Bible-ish,' Chaim scoffed, which made Alexis laugh again. 'You need something nice and sweet if it is a little girl or a little boy.  
Like our Scheine, the light of our lives.'

'Where's Mama,' Shane inquired as he put on the kettle for Alexis' tea; despite bitching about the horrible heat, she still liked a hot cup of tea with her meals, morning or evening.

'Where else? Buying the baby presents, of course.'

'Oh Papa-'

'Do not dare.' Chaim pointed his bacon spatula like a rapier at his son. 'This is our first grandchild, you know your mother is going  
to go even crazier than usual on shopping.'

'Shir likes to shop?' Alexis inquired, unable to reconcile the idea of the hard-lined Mossad agent with a consumer-iffic shopaholic;  
apparently it was true, judging from Chaim's scoff.

'That girl will buy ice from a pen-goo-in, my dear _shani_, if the price is right. Imagine what she is doing to the shopkeepers of Manhattan with her credit cards.'

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door followed by Shir's voice. 'Hello? Lady with bags needing help!'

Shane went to the door and felt his eyes go wide in shock: Shir had to walk sideways through the door in order to make it in one piece, and she was followed by the driver from her taxi who carried half again what Shir had in her arms. 'Mama, what the fu-'

'No swearing, Shane you...' Alexis trailed off when she saw how full her living room suddenly was. In the middle was Shir, grinning like a hunting dog with a brace of rabbits he'd tracked. 'What the fuck?'


	62. Debates

'No swearing around the baby,' Shir told her daughter-in-law, then dragged Alexis into the melee of bags; she passed one to Shane. 'Scheine, help your father while I spoil the little shikse Alexis is growing.'

'You think it's a girl, Mama?' Shane asked as he began to take fruit out of the bag with his father.

'I do indeed.'

'You should spend more time with my sister,' Alexis laughed. 'All of her friends are convinced the baby is going to be a boy. Which brings me to my next point, how did you buy so much stuff when we're waiting to find out? You already said you're coming back here in September for the birth.'

'I know, _shani_, this is my right as _bubbe_. Sit, sit! Shane, bring your girl a snack and something to drink!'

'Yes Mama.'

Alexis had to giggle a little - her husband, a medical doctor and very independent man, turned into the biggest little-boy she'd ever seen whenever he was at home with his mother around. Not so much as Chaim, she thought, but then Shane was the only child and son so there would be more of a bro-hood going on there than father-son relationship now that they were both adults.

It was gone when she saw Shane put a plate on the only corner of the coffee table not covered in loot from Shir's Day Out - strawberries, green grapes, aged cheddar cheese and another of Body's sweet-rolls with more apricot preserves. The addition of a glass of iced root-beer had Shir send her son another look.

'Scheine, are you trying to poison the baby? Alexis can't have that.'

'Actually, my OBGYN said root-beer is okay for a dark soft-drink because it is naturally decaf,' Alexis stepped in, taking a sip and sighing. 'Oh yummy. Thanks, sweetie.'

'Anything for my babies.'

Shir smiled at her son and daughter-in-law, then grabbed the first bag. 'Okay, we start with this one. Open up!'

Alexis could only laugh as she pulled out an adorable white onsie with an embroidered Star of David on it; underneath in the same blue were the words 'Bubbe's Little Super-Star'. 'Perfect for a boy or girl,' she agreed.

'Not to put pressure on you, dear, but-'

'Oh, no, not at all, Shir.' Alexis waved it off. 'Shane and I talked about it before we were even married, that when it came to matters of religious holidays and stuff, I have no problem following his traditions so long as he respects mine for Christmas.'

'That's completely fair,' Chaim agreed as he flipped the last of the bacon from the pan to the plate. 'Shir, did you know our children have a family Chanukah dinner every year? Not just their family, the whole family that goes to their friend Miss Merry-Dot's house.'

'I did, Chaim,' Shir called over, then shook her head. 'Such is the trouble sometimes of living apart. Here, another one.'

She grabbed another bag and Alexis couldn't help giggling - Shane was right, his mother was unstoppable. This time she pulled out a package of what looked like large plastic Cheerios in neon bright colours. 'Let me guess, teething toys?'

'Yes. Shane, he was horrible for teething, the poor little man couldn't do a thing without those nearby.' She pouted comically. 'Haven't you ever wondered why he's always like ice cream when he's sick?'

'I thought that was just him being a big baby,' Alexis said, and Shane laughed as he came over, kissed both his wife and his mother.

'Presents will have to wait a moment, as dinner is ready.'

'Oh just one more, Scheine.'

'Alright, then time to eat.'

Alexis had to laugh when Shir went rooting through the bags, obviously looking for something. Her heart stopped when she found the trademark pale-blue Tiffany's bag. 'Oh, Shir, you shouldn't have!'

'Mama, what did you do?' All teasing was gone from Shane's voice as Alexis unwrapped the gift and he held her hand tightly.

It was a silver picture frame with a photo of Alexis and Shane in a tender embrace, Shane's hands over Alexis' pregnant belly, from Chaim and Shir's visit at Passover. Engraved at the bottom with a quote from the Talmud - _each child brings his own blessing to the world_.

'Shir, it's beautiful,' Alexis murmured, sniffling. 'It's so beautiful.'

'You can put a picture in there of you two with the baby when she comes.'

'Man, you really are just like Jojo, Mama,' Shane chuckled, squeezing Alexis' shoulders in support. 'She's doing that too.'

'Doing what?'

'Calling the baby a 'she' and the rest are calling it a 'he'.'

'Alexis, no sniffling!' Chaim came over and kissed her head. 'It's dinnertime! We need to feed the grandbaby.'

'You're right.' Shir looked at the bags and parcels and packages with longing; Alexis cracked up when she actually blew them kisses. 'We'll be back soon, friends.'

Chaim helped Alexis to her feet, and with out looking back as he walked his pregnant daughter-in-law to the table, said, 'Shir, put it back.'

'But-'

'Shiri, my dove, no gifts while we eat. Give each gift, whether food or tokens, it's proper attention. Put it down.'

Alexis sat down, watched with fascination as Shir picked her way over to the kitchen table and she was met with the sight of Chaim giving Shir a tender kiss when he put his finger under her chin to lift her out of her pout.

'Shane,' she whispered to him.

'Yes?'

'I hope when we are your parents age, minus the long-distance thing, we're just like them.'

'And knowing us we'll probably be just like Kate and Rick.'

'Happy middle and we'll be ourselves,' Alexis told him and to prevent himself from getting all sentimental and mushy Shane went the typical guy route and made a joke instead.

'Jeez, any gooey and we'll be melted marshmallows.'

'Marshmallow.' Alexis sighed. 'Can we have s'mores for dessert?'

'Knowing my dad, he's probably going to treat us out somwhere.'

'So.' Chaim sat down, snapped his napkin. 'I was thinknig we might try that place Roscoe's you rave about for dessert, Scheine.'

'See?' Shane grinned. 'Told ya.'

Alexis grinned back. 'You always know.'

* * *

Later that night, when they were in bed and trying not to sweat themselves to sleep, Alexis rolled to her side and looked at her husband. Even with his eyes closed he murmured to her, 'I know that look.'

'What look?'

'You've made your mind up about something.' Shane squinted one eye open. 'What's on your mind, my sexy mama?'

'I think we should name the baby, if it's a boy, James Harvey Weaver.'

'He'll need a Hebrew name,' Shane reminded her.

'Eyal, then after your grandpa. James Eyal Harvey Weaver. What do you think?'

'I think...' Shane trailed off, kissed Alexis deeply. 'That sounds absolutely perfect. What do you think tiny?'

He was rewarded with a series of nudges and grinned. 'Nope, I think Mama and Jojo are in for disappointment because that felt like a big ol' yes to me.'


	63. Foodies: 31 Weeks, 6 Days

'Is Rick still taking wagers on Alexis' due date?'

Beckett looked at Esposito liked he'd sprouted a second head while they headed for Shane's autopsy theatre at the morgue. 'Of course, why?'

'Just thinking if I have enough time to make Ryan go double or nothing she's overdue.'

'Espo, some days you are just mean to him.'

Beckett shoved open the door and stopped short when she saw Alexis there in a very fancy dress, rubbing Shane's shoulders. 'Lex, what are you doing here?'

'Picking up my date for our anniversary!' she chirped sunnily. 'Four whole years of married life together already.'

'Wow, I guess it has been four years already huh?' Esposito mused. 'Doesn't feel like that long.'

'Well, Meredeth went into labour with Max the night of our engagement party in February. Max just turned four, same as Jojo and we were married the same year in July.'

'Wow,' he said again, then made a face when Shane pulled Alexis into his lap for a kiss. 'Mush, mush, mush.'

'Like you're one to talk bro,' Shane teased him, then rubbed Alexis' burgeoning belly. 'How's our little Weaver doing today, Mumum?'

'Hungry, Papa, and excited because he or she knows you've got something up your sleeve tonight. Does it involve boats?'

'No,' Shane laughed, kissed the tip of his wife's nose. 'No boats, darling, but something fun. What time are our reservations?'

'Twenty minutes from now but we're going to a restaurant within walking distance from here, so if you're running behind I can always go ahead and hold our table,' Alexis offered, then squealed when her husband's fingers dug into her ribs. 'Eeee! No-no-no!'

'We're going out for our anniversary dinner together, you silly pregnant-brained strawberry.'

'Alright, alright.' Alexis slid off his lap to her feet, rubbed her belly before giving her mother and Esposito a look. 'Okay, guys, go ahead.'

'Go ahead what?' Beckett laughed.

'Give it a rub,' she told them as she pointed to the bigger-by-the-day bump. 'You know you wanna say hello.'

'Yeah we do.' Esposito grinned, rubbed the young woman's belly. 'Hey pal, how you doin' in there buddy? Yeah, Alexis is the bomb as a mumum isn't she? Just take it easy on her when it's your turn for a birthday, alright? Yeah, you give me that fist-bump.'

'Okay, Omi Katie's turn.' Beckett subtly elbowed Esposito out of the way and rubbed her daughter's pregnant tummy. 'Hello my little darling. Can't wait to see you, little man.'

'Oh, Mom, you too?' Alexis' voice was perilously close to a whine. 'Are Jojo and Shir the only two citizens of 'It's-A-Girl-Opolis' ? Does Dad have any other takers for a little baby granddaughter?'

'Sorry, sweetie but I think it's safe to say you've got a penis in you that doesn't belong to your husband.'

'Jesus Christ on toast, Kate!' Esposito grimaced in wild disgust, borrowing a Mere-ism. 'That is fucking disgusting!'

'Espo, no swearing around Alexis.'

'Fuck that, Kate, you make comments like that you're-'

'Oh!'

Esposito's attitude changed in a heartbeat when he saw Alexis braced a hand on Shane's work-bench, the other clutching her belly. 'What's wrong, Lex?'

'No...swearing...' she said between clenched teeth. 'The baby kicks me very very hard when it hears bad words.'

'I'm so sorry, Alexis. Can I make it up for you?'

'Drive us to the restaurant,' Shane replied without a second thought.

'Done.'

* * *

The restaurant they'd chosen for their fourth anniversary, Sparta, was a quaint little Mediterranean place in the West Village that boasted low, sexy lighting and good homemade foods including house-churned ice cream and hand-made pasta, bread and pizza dough.

'Welcome to Sparta, do you have a reservation?'

'Yes, Weaver, for two.'

The maitre d' smiled, actually bowed a little at Shane as he ushered them back to their seat; it turned out to be a booth for two directly in front of the expediter's pass at the kitchen. Alexis knew from listening to foodies like Meredeth and Dave that a table this close to the kitchen was a choice location indeed; the only one better was an actually special chef's table in the kitchen itself. Such a prime spot caused Alexis to arch an eyebrow at her husband.

'What is that?'

'Just a little bit of flourish for us on our anniversary. Here we are.'

Shane pulled out Alexis' chair for her, sat down himself while the maitre d' lit the hurricane lamp on their table for intimate lighting that contrasted the sharp, bright energetic noise of the kitchen. 'Tonight, we are featuring several specials for our guests enjoyment, however I was informed this was a particularly special night for you and the gentleman requested a special tasting menu to go with that special night.'

Alexis grinned as Shane huffed a breath on his knuckles, dusted them on the lapel of his suit jacket. 'You are smooth, Doctor Weaver.'

'I try, and when it comes to my wife, I try harder than anyone in the world.'

'So, super-hubby of mine.' She folded her hands, perched her hands on them. 'What is for dinner?'

'We are having a tasting menu of some very familiar delicious things.'

Alexis could only shake her head as the maitre d' scuttled off and returned with a chilled bucket of sparkling cider and two champagne flutes in lieu of the real deal. They'd just touched glasses and tasted the crispy, tart drink when their first plates arrived.

'For the happy couple tonight, we are beginning with a tomato and mozzarella salad, seasoned with basil and black truffle olive oil.'

'Oh, just like on our honeymoon!' Alexis sighed, then looked at Shane when he picked up his napkin, draped it on his lap. 'Scheine?'

'Alexis?'

'What did you do?' she asked him for what felt like the millionth time.

'Just eat and enjoy.'

Alexis did so - it was hard to do otherwise with tomatoes and mozzarella - but after the soup course, a familiar blend of smoked ham and split pea when they reached the entree course Alexis was ready to weep.

'For the entree tonight we have a roulade of chicken, prosciutto, spinach and goat cheese along with savoury bread pudding and grilled asparagus,' the waiter announced as the plates were delivered to them. 'And if madam is so inclined, there is an extra portion ready to be taken home for a mother-to-be's midnight snack.'

'Oh, Shane.' Alexis looked at the food in front of her. It could be dressed up in a tuxedo and headed for the Oscars, but she knew fried chicken with stuffing and greens when she saw it. 'You always know.'

'I love you Alexis, what else would I do?'

'I love you too Shane.' She took his hand, kissed his knuckles. 'Let me guess, dessert will be cakes done especially by Esposito's mama?'

'Nope. Better.'

'Better?'

'Better,' Shane repeated, then looked at his watch, 'and I don't want to rush your culinary love affair but there is a surprise waiting at home for you so eat up and dessert will be later.'


	64. Surprises III

Shane loathed being a watch-checker but he really hoped they made it home on time tonight; after all a huge portion of his surprise for his wife on their anniversary was contingent on them being parked on the couch like celebrating little slugs.

Alexis picked up on his edginess too, and had to shake her head at him. 'Shane, I'm fine, darling.'

'No, I know, I just don't want us to miss the surprise.'

'What surprise? Oh God.' Alexis laughed at herself with a shake of her head. 'If you tell me, it's not a surprise.'

'Actually you can ask away because all I know is that it's a surprise for us for our anniversary.'

'All of them, huh? Well, damn now I really wanna know, and- oh for God's sakes kid! I'm not swearing at you!' Alexis hollered at her belly. 'Knock it off, my little treasure, okay? Mumum doesn't wanna yell at you like this already! I'm so sorry, sweetheart, Mumum loves you.'

'And I thought I was a softie,' Shane teased her; they'd reached their apartment and after putting the leftovers in the fridge - Alexis had indeed taken the maitre d' up on the offer of the extra portion of the chicken roulade - they changed into comfortable clothes before heading to the couch.

Alexis sighed as she put her sore, swollen feet up on the table and turned doleful eyes to her husband. 'Shane, are we boring?'

'What?'

'Are we boring? Plenty of couples go out and do stuff all the time, and so many of our friends did all kinds of things when the women were pregnant and-'

'Alexis, why do you always do this?'

'Do what?'

'Convince yourself you need to play catch-up?'

'Because part of me never stops thinking they still see me only as Castle's daughter and not my own person,' Alexis blurted out.

'You know what I saw the first time I met you?' Shane told her, tugging her legs so she was resting her feet in his lap where he could give her a foot-rub.

'Castle's daughter all grown up?'

'No. I saw a sexy redhead trying not to be nervous about meeting someone to talk about medical school. And when you sat down and talked to me, I was blown away how we clicked so easily and I felt that thing.'

'What thing?'

'The thing that got us right here.' Shane poked his index fingertip into her pregnant belly. 'Eight years together, four of them married and about to be a mumum and a daddy. That's magic, my love, no matter what anyone says.'

'Oh, baby.' Alexis sniffled with a smile. 'Well now I just feel stupid.'

'Don't feel stupid, your body's going through so much protecting our little one until it's ready for its birthday you're bound to think crazy things. Remember when you had poker night with the boys and you felt all weird because Cam had the same shampoo as me?'

'Yeah, that was just crazy.'

'And what about the time you kept thinking you were forgetting to buy yogurt and we ended up with four cartons of it in the fridge?'

'That too.'

Shane smiled, rubbed her belly where the baby wiggled away. 'See? Even tiny here is being a cheerleader for you, saying yea Mumum, don't let those silly bad thoughts follow you around! You rock and Papa loves you a whole very a lot bunches!'

Alexis cracked up at the high-pitched falsetto of Shane's voice while he spoke on behalf of their unborn baby. 'You are such a loser,' she giggled uncontrollably. 'No wonder I love you so much.'

'I love you so very much too. Oh, oh! Check it out! Nine-pm, it's starting!'

Shane turned on the television, tuned into the Discovery Channel just in time for them both to see the open credits.

_Tonight on a special sneak-peek of Shark-Week - everyone dreams of learning to go underwater and explore the worlds of reefs and sunken ships. But what really goes into becoming a master diver? Shark Week host and action star Tommy Keane heads to the Caribbean with certified master scuba-diver Andrea Brick to learn in just a few short days what it takes to become an expert in one of the world's most dangerous hobbies._

'Holy crap!' Alexis blinked. 'Andrea's on TV?'

'Yeah, but that's not the part that's the surprise.'

'No the best part is she got to meet Tommy freakin' Keane!'

Shane had to laugh; the handsome Welsh actor had been on the top of his wife's freebie-five list ever since his turn as German-born Manhattan cop working the beat in World-War Two era Manhattan. 'Calm yourself, sweetie, you'll pi- you'll make the baby cranky.'

'No, no these are happy hormones and the baby loves those,' she replied scooting forward on the edge of the couch, 'and you're gonna get very very laid tonight, Shane. Anniversary, plus Tommy Keane fantasy, multiplied by pregnancy hormones? You'll be walking sideways to work tomorrow, as you'll be all out of up and down.'

Shane could only laugh, move close to hold her hand and rest their linked fingers on the mound of Alexis' belly as they watched the actor, clearly out of his depth with Andrea who was clearly charmed by his ineptness and also used to dealing with this kind of aquatic novice in her scuba practices. When it came time to actually go into the water and go exploring, Alexis and Shane laughed as they saw what looked like a zebra-lobster with a bad sunburn.

'Man, that thing is gnarly looking!' he laughed. 'Wonder what your boy Tommy thinks of that.'

'I have no boys, just my man and he's right here beside me,' Alexis replied, kissing Shane's cheek.

'Mush mush mush.'

'It's our anniversary, of course I'll be all mushy.'

'Shush! Andrea's talking now!'

They stopped talking as they watched their friend on screen giving an interview on the deck of their diving boat with a sample jar being opened.

_It looks as though we may have discovered a new species of mini-spiny lobster here with red and black stripes, and all I could think of when I saw this was my friends Shane and Alexis, because she's a redhead like me and Shane has very black black hair. They're expecting their first baby and the stripes on this little guy made me think of what a baby with those kinds of genes might have for hair._

'Awww, she's so cute,' Alexis started, and Shane shushed her.

'She's still talking!'

_I also did the math and by the time this episode airs, it will also be Alexis and Shane's anniversary so in honour of that, we are naming this new species the spiny Weaver lobster, or Jasus weaversii. Happy anniversary guys!  
_

The show cut to commercial on a shot of the newly named Weaver lobster, leaving the celebrating couple to look at each other.

'Well,' Shane decided, 'I think it's safe to say no one's ever had lobster like that on their anniversary.'


	65. Name Games: 33 Weeks, 1 Day

It felt a little weird to be at the loft without everyone around, but at the moment, Alexis didn't give a fuck. It was July twentieth, she was sweaty and smelly and hugely pregnant, and the loft was beautifully air-conditioned to make her feel all better.

She was sad she'd had to miss out on a family trip but as she'd tried to explain to the near apopleptic RJ, Jojo and Dell, the forecast said women in her condition should stay inside and rest and drink lots, so going to Six Flags Great Adventure camping for the weekend was probably not a good idea for the baby. It was only when little Heddie had piped up that they had to protect the baby that Alexis' siblings had finally relented. They'd given her belly big kisses and hugs and promised gifts of 'cool stuff' and lots of pictures too.

'This is weird,' she said to Shane as he fixed them a snack in the kitchen; Alexis was in the living room, feet propped up and ready to take advantage of her vacation time booked during the summer's record-high heat wave.

'We've been here before when they were gone.'

'Yeah, but this is...I don't know, I'm pregnant,' she laughed, 'everything feels weird now.'

'Aw, poor little mama duck. Hungry?'

'More thirsty, but I could nibble.'

'Nosh. Our baby will be raised in the Jewish faith, you gotta get the lingo down, my shani little shiksa goddess.'

Shane pushed the button on the blender to churn ice, fruit and juice into a slushy for his bride; he was not about to let their little embryo become a shriveled little raison thanks to the weather. He didn't care that their grocery bill was more beverages than actual food at the moment, it was totally inconsequential when the end result was a healthy happy Alexis.

'Can we play Lego Pirates? I haven't gotten to do that in ages between work and fun with people.'

'After.'

'After what?'

'Alexis.' Shane gave her a look as he put the finishing touches on their plates, poured their slushies from the blender. 'Thought we agreed to take a swing at name-games today.'

'I know, I know, but...I don't wanna!'

'Why not?'

'Because I'm hot and sticky and I can barely think for myself right now.'

'Oh, come on, we'll make it a game, a true game,' Shane coaxed her; he knew how sensitive a subject this was for his wife, mostly because she'd started to fall into the 'it's a boy camp' of recent. She hadn't come right out and said it, but Shane knew his woman well and could tell that was exactly what she thought whenever he brought up the fact they'd also have to pick a little girl's name too.

'How?'

'Well, let's see.' Shane brought over the plates and saw Alexis' eyes go wide at the sight before her - mixed fruit, cheddar cheese, cracked wheat toasted pita-points with chicken salad and a strawberry-kiwi slushy. 'Actually I'm kinda stuck for an idea,' he thought, 'you got any?'

'One - gimme my food please.'

'Of course.'

Alexis scooped chicken salad onto her toast point, chewed thoughtfully. 'No names that start with E or M.'

'Okay, what else?'

'Two names only since the third will be her Hebrew name, if it's a her.'

'That's fair,' Shane agreed, snagging tart green grapes from his own plate and popping them like Skittles. 'And no namesakes of living people.'

'Considering just about everyone's already gotten to do that, I doubt there'd be anything left without a repeat anyways. Where does that leave us?'

'With a world of possibilities. Frightening isn't it? Where do we start?'

'Why not go through the alphabet and see what springs to mind from there?'

An hour later, Alexis and Shane were on their second round of slushies and Alexis was working her way through more fruit salad. Once they'd started, it was a wonder if they were actually going to be able to settle on something; they'd even dragged out the white-board Castle used for brainstorming at home.

'Alexis, no.'

'But it's pretty!'

'Alexis.' Shane strained for patience as he tried without much success o sternyl stare her down. 'We are not naming a baby girl Beatrice!'

'Give me one good reason why not!' she protested.

'I's a brand of orange juice! You might as well call her Tropicana!'

'Tropicana Weaver,' Alexis mused, knowing it would really make Shane seethe. 'I'm kidding. I thought the Queen of the Netherlands was Queen Beatrice?'

'That's Queen Beatrix with an 'x' and no, that's off the list.'

Well two can play this game, Alexis thought and sat up from her supine recline on teh couch. 'Fine, if I can't put Beatrice on the table then you don't get Katniss.'

'Katniss Everdeen is the most kick-ass heroine since Sarah Connor, everyone knows that, it'd be a total honour to be named after her!'

'You just like Jennifer Lawrence's tits.'

'Because they remind me of yours, my love,' Shane charmed her, even as Alexis continued to scowl playfully at him.

'Katniss Weaver sounds like Basket Weaver and before you even say it, Everdeen Weaver sounds like carpet cleaner.'

'God you're sexy when you sound like Doctor Seuss,' he deadpanned and Alexis cracked up on a snort guffaw.

'If it is a little girl I'm not having her be confused with items from the household products aisle at Martindale's!' She rubbed her belly felt, the baby kicking like a cancan dancer. 'See baby agrees with me.'

'Of course it does, you're the landlord and waitress all in one right now.'

'No Katniss and definitely no Everdeen.'

'Fine. Man.' Shane shook his head. 'I see why couples bring in veto rules on child-naming. This is getting intense.'

'So, so far we're agreed no E- or M-names, no living namesakes and definitely no on Amy, Tamara, Rachel, Juliet, Elizabeth, Beatrice and Katniss. Oh and Felicity.'

'Felicity? That's a nice one, what's wrong with that?'

'Cam George's mother is named Felicity and she tried to get Cam to sign divorce papers when Lily was about to have an emergency C-section to give birth to Rosie.'

'Ah. Okay, no Felicity.'

Shane flopped down on the couch beside Alexis, rubbed her belly where he felt the baby moving and jiggling away. 'What do you think sweetie? You gonna be our Jamie or a little princess angel?'

'Maybe we should name her Pierrette or something, since if this is a little girl she'll be as rock-headed as both of us.'

'Pierrette? You dumped all over Katniss and think you'll get this to fly?'

'Pierre means 'stone' or 'rock' in French, what would you suggest instead? Rocky?'

'What about Petra?'

'Petra.'

Shane saw the smile on Alexis' face spread warm and slow, and he knew they'd found a winner. 'Petra?'

'Yeah. Petra. That's it.'

'Petra what?'

'Shane?' Alexis threaded her fingers through her husband's. 'We finally agree on a first name, don't jinx it.'


	66. Siblings I: 34 Weeks, 3 Days

'Mumum, don't be such a silly sleepy-head! Come on, come on! Bib says get up now!'

Beckett felt her daughter's little fingers on her cheeks and she wrinkled her nose. 'Jojo, what did we say about early morning wake-ups?'

'Not allowed on days-off unless it's a holiday?'

'Exactly. July twenty-first doesn't count.'

'Well...'

Beckett heard the sing-song in Jojo's voice, opened her eyes; it would be even worse to prolong the waiting for her little bumblebee now. 'What makes today special, Jojo?'

'We are making a nice dinner just-because for our best ever mama-to-be! And RJ is gonna bake a cake and it'll be super awesome!'

'What kind of just-because dinner are we making for Alexis and Shane?'

'I'unno!' Jojo shrugged brightly as Beckett sat up, leaving the snoozing Castle in bed beside her. 'But it has to be somethign that is okay for the baby to have too so no alcohol, no caffeine, and no raw fishies but that's gross anyways.'

As Beckett did enjoy sushi now and then, though truth be told she really did prefer Chinese or Thai, she ushered Jojo downstairs and had to laugh when she saw her son the gourmet eating a bowl of Cheerios and surrounded by recipe books and the latest issue of _Kids Can Cook_; he'd been given a one-year subscription as a gift from Chaim and Shir and treated it the way some boys would treat their hot-rod magazines.

'How's my chef this morning?' Beckett asked her son and RJ grinned as he swallowed his Cheerios.

'I think I've got the menu ready for our special guests of honour tonight, Mumum!'

'Really? Will it be within your budget?' Much like when they'd had the toy-party for Alexis and Shane, Beckett and Castle had started giving their son his allowance for helping out with household chores like folding laundry and, since it was RJ, kitchen items. 'How much do you have saved up?'

'Almost thirty dollars, so I only wanna use a little bit. Maybe...maybe we should use up things we have at home and only a few things need to be bought?'

'That sounds suh-mart, RJ,' Jojo agreed, looking at her brother's bookings. She liked the little lists of what was needed to make the yummy treats he did. 'Whatcha thinkin'?'

'I think we should have mini-burgers with fancy mayo and cheese-buns. Look, see it is featured here from Mister Guy Fairy's show, Diner's Drive-Ins and Dives, or Triple-Dee as he likes to say.'

'Fieri,' Beckett corrected him and looked at the recipe. 'Tandoori barbecue chicken? You think Alexis will like that?'

'Alexis said she really likes spicy foods for the baby because they make her feel nice and fresh in her nose and her bottom. Shane says they have a lot of hot wings and Meredeth's homemade Mexican food with extra spice in it.'

'Well then, tandoori sounds good.'

'I'm not a fan of spicy foods,' RJ continued, 'but a good chef knows it's about making his diners happy even if he doesn't always like it.'

'Will I like tandoori chicken, RJ?' Jojo inquired as Beckett put her bowl of cereal in front of her and Jojo poured her own milk.

'Oh yes, you like spicy foods Jojo, and tandoori isn't super spicy but it has a little oof to it.'

'Really?'

'Yep, see?' RJ pointed to the recipe and read it to his sister. 'Tandoori is always a crowd pleaser at barbecues because of its tangy zip and pleasant warm flavours so the mild-lovers won't be scared off by spices and heat-seakers get a taste of something different!'

'Whee! That sounds yummy RJ! Do we have all those things?'

'I'unno. Let's go find out!'

Since he was finished with his cereal, RJ dutifully took his empty bowl to the dishwasher then set about snooping through the cupboards to find all his ingredients. It was expensive sometimes but he knew from listening to Meredeth, who was like the best cook ever, that it was better to spend a little extra money and make something equally delicious and nutritious for the family. RJ knew that was especially true for baking. Besides, cookies just tasted so much better coming from the oven than a box. Unless it was his special cookie-storing box that Trini had gotten him last year for Christmas, that was the only cookie box worth opening in his high-brow cookie opinion.

Beckett watched her son, looked at her youngest daughter. 'Jojo, what put this idea in RJ's head? I thought we were just having dinner and he'd make cookies.'

'I think RJ wants to make sure Shane doesn't forget about him.'

'What brought that on?'

'He told me that he and Shane have been buddies forever, since Shane and Alexis were going on dates for as long as he has been around and he thinks a little baby boy will become more important than him to Shane.'

'Oh, I see.'

'I told him not to worry since Alexis and Shane are having a girl,' Jojo shook her head, shrugged a little, 'but he wouldn't listen to me.'

'Jojo, why don't you go have your cereal and watch some cartoons, I gotta talk to your brother.'

'He's in trouble for being a sour-puss-pouty-face, right?'

'No, he just needs to have a little chat.'

'Okay.'

Jojo left with her Cheerios; the moment she was gone, RJ scowled at his mother. 'I'm not being a suck,' he informed her importantly.

'No one said that RJ.'

'Jojo thinks it.'

'Jojo's a four-year-old-girl and not as sensitive to somethings that you are.'

'She cried more than me when nice Doctor Harvey was killed,' RJ retorted, bringing his cooking magazine back to the table where his mother watched him with her patient eyes; his daddy called them 'sea-goddess' eyes.

'I mean that Jojo just has a different way of believing in people than you do. She is what you call an 'optimist', because she always wants to believe the best in everyone. You are a little older so you've seen a little more of the world and that also means a little more sadness than her,' Beckett explained patiently.

'Like when Trini was really scared because Meredeth was sick when they found out Max was an itty-bitty bumpy and she needed an operation?'

'Exactly.'

'Oh. But Meredeth was okay, Mumum.'

'Exactly,' she repeated. 'But we didn't know that, and Jojo is the kind who doesn't let herself think bad thoughts about her loved ones.'

'Hmm. So maybe I should follow her example and be more positive that Shane won't need his little bro-in-law now?'

'Exactly.' Beckett pulled RJ in for a hug, sighed happily when her son hugged her back. 'You know he'll always welcome help since you're a big bro who helped him lots when Jojo was a little newborn.'

'Okay, then what are we waiting for Mumum?' RJ smiled his culinary-scheming smile. 'We've got a supper to make!'


	67. Siblings II

When Castle arrived home from a lunch meeting with Paula, he walked into the loft to the smell of something tangy and delicious.

'Hello everyone! Smells good in here!' he called out, and was greeted with the sounds of his youngest two children and their mother in the kitchen.

'RJ, why we need the fuh-lour out? We're not having cookies for supper.'

'No, see we melt the butter and the flour makes this paste-stuff called a roux, and that makes the sauce thicken up. Here watch.'

'Careful, Jojo, let RJ work. RJ, watch you don't burn yourself.'

Castle smiled, set down his briefcase. 'How fifties-sitcom of us,' he said, walking into the kitchen. 'The hubby's back from the office to find the children playing in the kitchen with the little woman.'

'Careful, writer-man.' Beckett straightened up, kissed him in greeting. 'You play nice or the chef will make you eat rabbit food.'

'Alright then.'

'How did it go with Paula?'

'Fine, it was just ironing out details. What's on with Chef RJ?'

'Ask him yourself, he's been pretending he's on Food-TV all afternoon and Jojo is his audience.'

Castle nodded, shrugged off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves as he walked over to where RJ was standing on his stepping-stool and Jojo was standing on a chair beside him. The boy was stirring some kind of delicious spicy sauce very carefully with a wooden spoon while he explained things to Jojo.

'See, in the book it says the garlic is for tanginess, the mustard is for sweetness and then the soy-sauce and ketchup make the smoky barbecue taste,' he told her and Jojo nodded.'

'Will there be ex-tah-rahs to dip or is it all going to be on the chickens?'

'All on the chicken.'

'Chickens, RJ, there is more than one.'

'True,' RJ laughed, 'but we say chicken as a dish. We don't say we're having fishes and chips, right?'

'No, I suppose not.' Jojo looked over and squealed in delight. 'Daddy! Hi Daddy! How was your lunch-time meeting with Miss Paula?'

'Just great, but it looks like I was missing out on the fun here.' Castle leaned in and sniffed. 'This smells delicious.'

'We are having tandoori chicken, fancy mashed potatoes and Cesar salad, and then we are having the cream of the top for dessert!' RJ rapped his spoon on the side of the sauce pan as his timer went off and he dutifully turned the burner off when his timer went off. He looked at his father, beckoned to him. 'Come and see hear.'

'Come and see hear?'

RJ nodded. 'Mumum said that's what Shane says to her when she is investigating things and he has something big to show her.'

'Ah.' Castle nodded, understanding RJ really meant _kommen-sie hier_, and that when Shane had something important to reveal he'd bust out the German. 'What is this big important thing for dessert.'

'Look!'

RJ pointed to the rack on the island, and Castle had to raise his eyebrows - there were eighteen perfectly shaped yellow-cake cupcakes cooling in the racks. 'I made them right from scratch. Well not scratch, they have eggs nad butter and flour in them.'

'I got to stir the dry in-gah-...the in...the angry-dents while Mumum showed RJ how to use the mixer safely,' Jojo added proudly.

'Ingredients, Jojo,' RJ helped.

'In-gah...An-gah-ree...it's a hard word, RJ!'

'Don't worry, you'll figure it out soon.'

'RJ, we have to get this chicken going, our guests will be here soon,' Beckett reminded him and RJ tugged on his oven mitts to handle carrying the hot pot to the counter where the dish of chicken was waiting. 'Careful, don't pour too fast, there we go.'

'Yea RJ!' Jojo clapped, then squirmed a little again when she saw the cupcakes. 'RJ, can we decorate the cupcakes now?'

'Yes we can!'

RJ set the microwave's timer according to his recipe instructions, then froze when there was a knock on the door. 'Oh no!' he howled. 'No, they can't be here just yet! We don't have everything ready! We have to have time to visit, not be in the kitchen!'

'RJ,' Castle chuckled as he went to the door, 'relax, you won't finish the cupcakes if you aren't conscious from hyperventilating.'

He opened the door and grinned when he saw Alexis and Shane, Alexis looking like she was going to tip over belly-first if the baby bump got any bigger. 'Thank god it's you, I think RJ might have fainted.'

'Why?' Alexis laughed. 'What happened?'

'He's made us dinner, and I don't mean that in a cute kid way,' Castle told her, kissing her cheek and rubbing her tummy to feel his grand-baby wiggling around. 'Hey in there, it's Big Daddy. How's it going, little one?'

'Dad, focus. What is RJ up to?'

'Just come with me.'

Alexis looked at Shane, who shrugged; he had no advance knowledge of what his bro-in-law was up to, all he knew was his boy always had a hand in feeding pregnant Alexis whenever they went to the loft. 'Don't look at me like that.'

'Like what?'

'You know what. Yo, RJ, my main man!'

'Hi Shane, in here!'

Shane followed his brother-in-law's voice and saw him standing by the mixer, the scents of butter and sugar prevailing over the spicy delicious scent of meat roasting in the oven. 'What are you up to, bro?'

'I am making the frosting for our cupcakes, but you guys are early, and that means it won't be all ta-dah special!' RJ pouted a little, and Shane laughed, called out to Alexis.

'Hey, sweetie? RJ needs you to answer a question for him.'

'Okay!'

Alexis waddled into the kitchen - no question about, she thought with a groan, she definitely waddled from place to place now - and smiled maternally when she saw the worry on her brother's face. 'What's wrong, RJ?'

'We're having cupcakes for dessert and-'

'Oh, can we decorate them ourselves? Did you get supplies for a decorating party?' When Alexis saw RJ blush red, she grinned even wider. 'Did I take away your surprise?'

'No, you just answered my question, Alexis.' RJ hugged his sister, groaned. 'Oof, you are so big in your tummy now Alexis!'

'Six weeks to go, bro,' she agreed and RJ rubbed the belly.

'Can't wait to see you little dude! You can be my little helper-monkey in the kitchen. Oh! We can have our own bakery! The Castle Boys, and yes you are a Castle boy because your mumum is a Castle and-'

'RJ! You silly head!' Jojo had made her way over to say hello and was elbowing her own brother out of the way. 'This is our little girl niece, so stop trying to confuse her! Don't you listen to him sister! He's a silly-head boy!'

'And so it goes,' Alexis laughed, looking at her siblings squaring off on either side of her belly. 'When do we eat?'


	68. Pep Talks

'So, not long to go, huh?'

'Six weeks.'

'Wow.'

Castle shook his head as he passed Shane a drink from the bar in his office. He knew the smell of alcohol was bothersome to his daughter so he'd ensconced them both in there for a few minutes while the others finished getting supper ready. At least that was Castle's outward excuse; he had other reasons for wanting Shane alone. Shane being no dummy knew it too, yet he went along with it for both their sakes.

Shane looked around at the various posters and memorabilia from his successes with Nikki Heat and Derrick Storm. 'So what do you really want to talk about?'

'How proud I am of you, Shane.'

Of all the fatherly advice that Shane was anticipating, this was at the very bottom of the list. He choked on his gin and gingerale, took a deep breath to keep from having a coughing fit that would bring Alexis running to investigate. 'You're proud of me?'

'Yeah. I know you've had your Ryan-esque moments, but the truth is when it's the first baby, every man gets those and you've really stepped up to look after Alexis, especially given the shock of losing Jim Harvey in May. You...I've never thought much about the fact that you guys are fifteen years apart, it goes over my head most days now and so...God, I had this little speech prepared.'

Castle gave a laugh that sounded perilously close to a sob in Shane's ears. 'When I see you together, you fit, so beautifully. You fit,' he repeated, draining his glass, 'and when I see you two with RJ and Jojo, and the other kids in our band of renegades, all I can think is how wonderful a family your babies are coming into.'

'Whoa, whoa, whoa, babies?'

'Come on Shane, I see how you two look at each other. I know this boy won't be an only child.'

'You're in our camp too?' Shane grinned. 'I've been avoided mentioning it to Alexis because she's getting cranky about everyone assuming it's a boy.'

'I can imagine. What's next on the baby check list?'

'Well, we're doing the nursery next weekend since the crib will be ready from Javi's carpenter friend, and then next Tuesday night we start Lamaze classes.'

'Oh boy.' Castle grinned. 'Alexis' bio-mom thought those were total crap. Yet another reason I'm glad she doesn't take after her.'

'Speaking of which...' Shane finished his drink, then the can of leftover ginger-ale. 'I'm surprised she hasn't been swooping in, giving Alexis shit for getting pregnant.'

'Yes, well, if Evil Meredith knows what's good for her, she'll keep her distance.'

Shane cocked his head to the side, studied his father-in-law. 'You did something. What did you do?'

'After seeing the tweets on Alexis' feed, she called me and flew into a rage about how Alexis isn't allowed to get pregnant because it makes her look old.'

'What a selfish bitch.'

'Exactly. I told her if she tried to pull any shit, she'd be looking at the business end of a restraining order.'

There was a knock on the door; it was opened by Jojo who gave a cautious smile. 'Mumum says that you boys have to set the table for supper.'

Shane scooped up his sister-in-law, tickled her tummy. 'Jojo, have you ever thought once the baby is a boy?'

'Nope, never-ever-ever!' Jojo shook her head so her wavy auburn hair swished in its ponytail back and forth. 'It's gonna be a little girl and you are all gonna be sucking up to me when I have all the dollars because I guessed right in the baby-guessing contest.'

'Sucking up to you, huh?' He blew a raspberry on her cheek, making her shriek in delight.

'No, no, no!'

'Be nice,' Beckett said calmly as she blended raspberries and pineapples in the blender with yogurt. 'Alexis isn't feeling so hot.'

Shane set Jojo back on her feet abruptly as he rushed to his wife's side. She was sitting on the couch by the fireplace, blowing out small breaths as she rubbed her hands over her pregnant bulk. 'Alexis, sweetheart, what's wrong?'

'Braxton-Hicks,' she said between her teeth. 'I'm out of hydration bags, I can't get more until Bishop redoes my prescription after my check-up on Wednesday.'

'Okay sweetie, nice deep breath in and out, in and out, there you go.'

'Alexis, are you okay?' Jojo came in, looking at her sister, watching how her faced screwed up in concentration and a bit of pain. She moved in close and took her sister's hand. 'It's okay Alexis just do what Shane says. HE loves you and he's s doctor too. Maybe not a doctor for babies but he is a doctor and they are very smart. You're a doctor too so you know that!'

'Thanks bumblebee,' Alexis managed to get out, then let out a sharp cry. 'Shane-'

'Okay, okay, this is more than Braxton Hicks, we're going to the hospital.'

'No...just...wait.'

Alexis let out a cry and leaned forward, and a few seconds later the loft was filled with the sound of a very long and loud pregnant-woman fart. She let out a gasp, then a sob and tears began to pour from her eyes.

'That is so gross!' she wailed in an almost musical pitch. 'I'm such a gross fucking beast! I'm huge and I sweat all the time and I fart and I have clown feet and my boobs are gonna be saggy and...and...'

The rest of what Alexis had to say was lost in her sobs as she pitched forward and threw her arms around her husband. Shane in turn just shushed her gently and rubbed his hands over her back as she got it out. Beside her, Jojo stared with a goggle-eyed expression.

'Shane, is she okay?' she whispered, and Shane nodded.

'Yes, her hormones are just starting to get the better of her because it's almost time for the baby to be here and Alexis doesn't feel like herself right now.'

'Ohhhhhh.' Jojo scooted closer. 'Shane, you should take Alexis out for a fancy night.'

'A fancy night?'

'Uh-huh! When RJ and Daddy and me had baby Zane to visit for a little while last week, it was so Adam and Lindsay could go to a dinner and a movie so they could tell each other how special they are!'

'That sounds nice,' Alexis sniffled so pitifully that Shane had to relent.

'Well, I was only gonna tell you ahead of time if we had a crisis moment like this, but I got us reservations at La Mezzaluna and tickets to see the Palliburn College's season opener Rhythm Nation.'

'Oh yea!' All thoughts of being huge and gross evaporated and Alexis gave her sister and husband a water smile. 'I'm sorry, really, I-'

'Alexis you have a bumpy, of course you feel funny.,' Jojo replied and patted her knee. 'Now, who's hungry?'


	69. Rollercoasters

'I don't like doing that.'

Shane looked over at his wife as he stripped off his shirt,saw her sitting on the end of the bed, rubbing her big belly. Her eyes were very tired and she had that look on her face again that said a crying jag wouldn't be too far away.

'Doing what, my strawberry?' he asked her, and Alexis sighed.

'Bursting into tears like that, being so selfish. I have our baby to think of now, not just myself, my body.'

'Alexis.' Shane knelt in front of her, put his hands on the bump where the baby was resting for the time being. 'You are about to be a mumum, and I'm gonna be papa. That's a major league deal, everyone knows that. Do you honestly think everyone who loves you is judging you for it?'

'No, but...but I'm judging me and I'm always with me and...and I'm making no sense.'

Alexis sighed, and Shane moved to sit beside her; he wasn't at all surprised when she leaned over against him and she gave a frustrated little moan. 'I just want our little one here, Shane.'

'We read about this in the books and it's totally normal to feel like this towards the end right? Here.'

Shane twisted over to get his copy of _Baby Boom_ off his bed-side table, flipped open to the passage he'd marked. 'See right here, at thirty-four weeks many women become increasingly frustrated with their bodies as their biology tells them the end of the gestational period is nearing. Not to worry, partners, this is totally normal, and see they under that part in big black caps, so you know it's-'

He was cut off when Alexis kissed him, full and deep in a way that let Shane know just how mixed up feeling her hormones were making her. 'Alexis, I love you so much and I'm so proud of you.'

'I love you right back, Shane. Do...' Alexis' words caught in her throat a little. 'Do you...wanna?'

'With you, Alexis, always. Here.'

Shane pulled her to her feet and turned on the stereo, letting the soft strains of sexy jazz piano fill the room. He dug the candles out of their toy box so the scent of the islands drifted on the breeze created by the ceiling fan; it had Alexis swaying gently on her feet, her senses going dreamy.

'What are you up to, Doctor Weaver?'

Shane touched his lips to his bride's, gave her a sweet smile. 'Seducing you, Doctor Weaver. You're wearing far too many clothes.'

'Let's fix that, shall we?'

'Mm-hmm.'

Alexis closed her eyes again, as she felt Shane's gentle caress up her back to her shoulders, then down to her hips where he inched up her maternity tunic. The sight of the bright orange fabric fluttering to the floor had her giggling. 'Guessing being so big and wearing this colour makes me your little pumpkin instead of your strawberry, huh?'

'I thought you looked like a sexy juicy mango,' Shane replied, unfastening her silky maternity bra before cupping her breasts in his hands. He watched her eyes glaze over as his thumbs brushed over her nipples. 'Bet these feel pretty heavy now, huh? That feel better?'

'Immensely.'

'Let me...' Shane turned Alexis so she spooned against his chest; with one arm supporting her hormone-heavy breasts, he rubbed his other hand over her belly, smiled when he felt the baby kicking. 'Yeah, it's Mumum's turn to have fun with Papa.'

'Go to sleep, sweetheart,' she murmured to the bumpy, rubbing it in circles before letting out a little sigh of delight when she felt Shane's fingers unhook her pants and let them drop to the floor. 'Pantie's too, my love.'

'You read my mind.' Shane turned Alexis back around, knelt in front of her to tug her matching black panties down her hips. He kissed the soft flesh of her leg as he traveled up north again, landing at the juncture of her thighs. 'Alexis, why don't you sit down, let me take care of you.'

'Uh-huh.' Alexis perched herself on the end of the bed, letting her legs spread wide for Shane's attentions. She stretched out on the bed, not bothering to keep it down. She'd wanted to feel this hot, this desirable for weeks and now, finally she had it. 'Oh, god that feels amazing Shane. Don't stop, please.'

'Never.' Shane used every trick he had, dipping and swirling his tongue over her soft, sweet flesh. He lapped at her, slowing to make her moan louder, speeding to make her breath come in short quick gasps. 'Alexis, you want-'

'Fuck me, Shane, please my love, I want you inside me now.'

Knowing this would be quick but immensely intense for them both, Shane kissed the inside of her thigh before he moved for Alexis to be on top. 'You want it like this?'

'Uh-huh.' Alexis loved being on top while pregnant, so she could control how far inside she let her husband. She lowered herself on top of him moaning deeply as she took him in. 'Ohhh, Shane, that feels so good.'

'Easy, easy, we've got all the time in the world, Lex.'

'Right.'

Shane looked up at his bride and saw her eyes, saw all the answers to life's most important questions there. Then he was overtaken by base pleasure and need for her as she began to move her hips back and forth. Her walls her softer thanks to the pregnancy now but she was now and forever his wife, his sexy strawberry, his Alexis.

He ran his hands up her sides, over her belly; the romantic mood was shattered when he felt the sharp jabs and kicks there. 'Hey!'

'What? Am I too heavy, you wanna do another position?' Alexis asked him on a dreamy sigh.

'No, it's...the baby is giving me hell.'

'Just go with it.'

'Just go with it?' Shane was slightly affronted. 'The baby is telling me to back off because I'm hurting you, clearly.'

'Shane, you stop and you will be the other Lady Doctor Weaver.'

'You sure? Junior seems pretty pissed at me.'

'No, just relax.' Alexis put her hand to Shane's face, then linked her fingers with his as she felt the shift and began to move her hips as fast as she could in tandem with her husbands. 'Oh, God, Shane, right there right there right...there!'

The orgasm burst through her, like electrified wires coming alive in her body. She arched into it as best as she could, felt Shane come inside her as she drifted in the afterglow. 'Shane, that was absolute perfection,' she said so happily that Shane had to laugh.

'Even with the little one giving you hell?'

'Giving me hell?' Alexis laughed. 'That was all for you, big daddy, for being such a nancy-boy worry-wart. Hey you know what'd be tasty right now?'

'The leftover tandoori chicken sliders from dinner?'

'And if we hurry-' Alexis looked at her alarm-clock '-we can get those chips to go with them from Martindale's.'


	70. Hosts I: 35 Weeks, 2 Days

'Hello Alexis! Welcome-welcome-welcome!'

Alexis had to laugh at Carey's enthusiasm as he opened the door to her, Shane carrying her bag for her. Behind him, she could see Finn and Dave waiting for him to continue their game of Monopoly. 'Hello, young master Carey, how are you today?'

'I'm just awesome! We're learning about abnormalities of the body in health sciences and I got to be the teacher's example because of my eyes.'

'Wow, that's really cool!' The boy's enthusiasm was so infectious that Alexis had to smile even though she felt so horridly ghastly huge as a whale. 'Did you learn anything about your classmates?'

'Umm, that people who are left-handed are born with different wired brains so making them switch hands does more bad than good? We have a lot of lefties in our class, just like Lili and Robina, and Rosie and Tessi and Finn and Nate.'

'Is that Alexis? She's here and no-one told me?'

Alexis smiled when she saw Violet with half her hair in French-braid pig-tails and Lanie chasing her with the hair-brush. 'Are you feeling okay? Your tummy is so big with your baby boy now, it won't be much longer till his birthday, will it?'

'Violet, I'm trying to get your hair done for tomorrow, sweetie, you want it to be all nice and wavy, right?' Lanie said on a laugh, trying to steer Violet away from the bump. 'Alexis is spending the weekend with us, you'll have all night to talk to her.'

'Okay Mama. Jamie, I be right back and then you and me can plan your birthday part for the twentieth of September.'

'Don't listen to her, bro,' Carey said to the bump as Alexis walked with him to the kitchen table. 'You have that birthday when you're good and ready, okay? Maybe around, say, the twelfth of September? That'd be super-awesome.'

'No-no-no,' Finn chirp, rolling the dice to move his token around the board. 'No, little bumpy boy, you listen to Finneran! You hafta stay in there until the eighteen of September! That will be even awesome-er.'

'Alexis, how are you feeling? Can I get you a drink?' Dave offered as he rose.

'Right, oopsie!' Finn slapped his little palm to his forehead. 'That's what a good oats does!'

'Oats?' Carey looked at his little brother and Finn nodded eagerly.

'Oats, Jojo told me when a person visits another person's house, they are the guest and you are the oats.'

'Host,' Carey corrected him. 'Oats are what we make cookies and muffins with.'

'Hose,' Finn repeated determinedly and Carey laughed on a shrug.

'Close enough.'

Alexis giggled as she watched the interaction, Carey taking back his spot that Dave had vacated. 'Yu guys like Monopoly?'

'This isn't just Mop-oly, Alexis,' Finn breathed, 'this is Muppet Mop-oly, see look? All game pieces are the Muppets, and the places to buy are places from the Muppet movies, and this nice-looking Mister Jim Henson with his big bushy beard is on all the money. Who is Mister Jim Henson, Alexis?'

'He's the guy that created the Muppets.'

'Ohhhh. He must have been super smart and fun. Oh, and here's the best-est part!' Finn pointed to the game pieces and Alexis cracked up - they were all different characters from the show.

'Which one are you, Finn?'

'I'm Fozzie! Fozzie Finn-Bear, because I know all the jokes!'

Charmed, Alexis took the glass of juice Dave offered her and drank. 'Like what? Tell me a good one.'

'Ohhh, no Alexis,' Carey laughed, 'you did it now. He'll be making you laugh until bedtime!'

'What has four legs and red and black stripes?' Finn asked brightly.

'I don't know,' Alexis replied.

'A zebra with a sunburn!'

She genuinely laughed, drank more juice; Shane came in to give her a kiss goodbye as Dave grabbed his own overnight bag from by the kitchen entrance. 'Your son's quite the witty one,' Alexis told him.

'Ah, don't worry, you won't be spending the whole weekend at Yuk-Yuk's. I know Lanie's got girlie stuffed planned too.'

'At What-What's?' Shane chuckled.

'Oh, right, they don't have those down here. It's a comedy club chain in Canada. Lanie! Get your fine behind in my sight-line! Time for bye-bye sugar!'

'Goodness gracious David, you're a real Italian poet,' Lanie teased him when she came to say goodbye to her man. She kissed him sweetly, making her sons groan is disgust. 'Violet! Daddy's off for the weekend!'

'Bye-bye Daddy!' The little girl flew into the kitchen, wrapping her arms around her father's middle. 'Have fun and be care around the paint smells, they make you laugh too much if you around them for very long.'

'Good plan, my little flower.' Dave planted a noisy kiss on her cheek, then gave his sons manly hugs as well before giving Lanie one last sizzling kiss and Alexis swore up and down she could actually see the stars in Lanie's eyes when he drew away. 'Stay safe everyone and stop calling the baby a boy, we don't know that for sure.'

'Yes we do!' the children chorused in perfect harmony, Finn adding, 'we even know it's name, remember Daddy? Jamie Eeyore Harvey Weaver!'

'Not quite, but close enuogh,' Shane laughed. 'Love you, Lex, and you too baby. See you Monday.'

When the men were gone, Alexis turned to Lanie with a mile-wide grin. 'Remind me to mention something to you about stars later.'

'Okay.' Understanding this was something not for little ears, Lanie pointed to the board-game. 'Wanna play a few rounds while we wait for dinner?'

'Sure, but what about the kids?'

'Just wait for it.'

Sure enough, Alexis watched as Violet went into the living room and came back with DVD case in neon-pink, wiggled it at her brothers.

'Finn, Carey, you promised Daddy you'd watch one girlie movie with me this weekend, so let's watch it now.'

'Okay Vi-o-let!' Finn looked at the board, then at his mother and Alexis. 'Mama, it's okay, you can clear the board. Carey was letting me win anyways because Daddy told him so.'

'Did not!' Carey squawked indignantly. 'You're jsut really good at that game!'

The boys carried their conversation into the living room, and Alexis looked at Lanie. 'How long is the wait for dinner?'

Lanie looked at her watch. 'Maybe an hour, that cool?'

'Yeah, but you haven't ordered anything and I know the oven's not turned on.'

'Just wait.' The doctor winked at her friend. 'One of the surprises for the weekend includes our supper tonight. You wanna be Gonzo or the Swedish Chef?'

'Can I be Kermit?'

'Sure.'

Lanie gathered up the cards, the paper play money. 'What's that about stars?'

'Oh, just thinking how awesome it is after three babies Dave still kisses you like that, like he can't wait to et you naked.'

'Of course he does,' Lanie scoffed. 'We love each other. What else would we do?'


	71. Painters

While Alexis waited with her friend to tell her what the surprise was for dinner, Shane and Dave were drinking beer in the Grammercy Park apartment and studying the baby's room with Jeremy and Body. The walls would be taken care of that night and they'd spend the night at Jeremy's place while they let the primer dry. The next would be the fun part - painting on the colour for the baby's room, a beautiful gender neutral leaf green, and adding the acrylic designs to make it little Jamie or little Petra's first ever home outside his or her mama's body.

'It'll be beautiful, bro,' Body told him, looking around. 'You've got that nice east facing window which the baby will love, and that chair looks mega comfy for Alexis and you to cuddle the baby back to sleep when he or she is wakeful.'

'Nice job staying gender neutral,' Jeremy told him, and Body sent him a quizzical look while Dave just laughed.

'Gender neutral?'

'All of our friends' kids are one-hundred percent convinced Alexis is carrying a boy,' Shane explained, 'and with the exception of Jojo they are call it our baby boy or little Jamie already.'

'Jojo is the only one undecided?'

'Nope, she is the only one firmly entrenched in the baby girl camp.' Shane shook his head. 'I don't know how to tell that little angel she is going to probably be disappointed.'

'Well we'll worry about that on the eighteenth,' Dave told him with a wink, making the daddy-to-be groan more.

'Enough with the gambling on infants, how about we worry about more important things like getting the furniture tarped and the walls primed before we miss our table at the Sports Line for the Angels-Giants game tonight.'

'A most excellent idea.'

They cracked open the cans of primer; Shane and Dave being the tallest took the upper half of the room while Jeremy took the lower and Body having the baker's delicate touch did the areas near the baseboards, switch-plates and socket-plates. Two hours later, they stood drinking more beer and admiring their work with paint-splattered clothes.

'Looks nice, a very nice canvas for everything to inspire your little one,' Body said with a smile. 'You know who's going to give him or her cooking lessons right?'

'You and RJ?'

'Haha, I'm not competing with that kid,' he scoffed. 'That's all your bro-in-law, bro.'

'Does that ever weird you out,' Jeremy asked, 'that your brother-in-law is in grade three and your sister-in-law is in junior kindergarten?'

'Nope, because I've learned one very key thing since Alexis and I got together.'

'Which is?'

'There's no such thing as a normal family these days. Jeremy, you got your happy ever after with a woman who was already a mother when you met her. Dave, you and Lanie already had Carey and were expecting Violet when you and Lanie got married, and Body, well you're gay as a rainbow unicorn singing Lady Gaga so that comes with its own quirks of having a family with Faisal.'

'As soon as that law gets passed next year, we're putting our name in to start the adoption process.' Body gave a little shudder. 'Now that it's actually becoming a real thing, it's even more terrifying than the idea of never getting to have our own family?'

'Why not go through a surrogate, dude?' Dave inquired, finishing off his beer.

'We decided to take that out of the equation so we're on equal footing. Then in ten years' time the kid can't say you're not my bio-dad.'

'Technically Devon could use that on me too,' Jeremy pointed out. 'But he wouldn't remember his bio-dad anyways since Sloan turfed him when she was like seven centimetres dilated.'

'Speaking of which, is Alexis going for a drug-free plan or is she asking to be lit up like Chanukah?'

'She won't be doped to the gills but she does not want to do what Lindsay did, or Sloan for that matter,' Shane added with a nod in Jeremy' direction. 'I'm just hoping I don't faint or freak out on her.'

'You won't.' Dave winked at him. 'I deal with pregnant women in jeopardy all the time, so you'd say I'm seasoned in seeing them panic for their babies and themselves, and nothing had me prepared for seeing Lanie give birth to Carey. But I knew that there was nowhere else in the world I'd be and there was nothing more amazing than watching her bring our first baby into the world.'

'I think that supposed to be reassuring some how,' Shane laughed, 'so I think I'll just take it like that.'

'I think the paint fumes are getting to us so why don't we go back to my place, clean up and get over to the Sports Line for wings and more beer than the game?' Body suggested.

'That sounds like a great idea.'

Shane waited until they were all out of the room before turning around and looking at the space. In just a few short weeks it would be filled with a tiny human looking to him and Alexis for all the answers of life, the universe and everything. He let out a shaky breath before murmuring, 'Can't wait to see you here, baby.'

He was shaken out of it when he heard his phone ring long distance which had him blinking. A look at the Caller-ID had his heart stopping. 'Papa, what's wrong?' he asked. 'What is it, did something happen to Mama?'

'Scheine, calm down, I just wanted to tell you that your mother's flight arrived safely here in Amsterdam and we're on our way home.'

'Jesus, Papa-'

'Don't you blaspheme at me, young man.'

'Yes, Papa.' Shane may have been almost forty-five but he knew better than to disobey his father. 'You could have emailed me, you know, instead of giving me a heart-attack.'

'Yes, now that I think of it, I could have done so but I'm just so happy my Shiri is here.'

'I know the feeling, Papa. You go get some sleep, and I'll talk to you in the morning, okay?'

'Yes, yes you go enjoy your Friday night with your baby's mother.'

Shane snickered; only his father, he thought. 'She's spending the weekend with friends while me and mine get the nursery painted.'

'And of course no being around the fumes for Alexis. Tell her we are looking forward to seeing her soon.'

'I will. Night-night, Papa.'

Shane hung up looked over to see Jeremy smiling at him. 'My dad didn't want me to worry about my mother flying to Amsterdam tonight so he called me to let me know she'd landed safely, ironically making me worry more by calling.'

'Hey, pal, get used to it. You'll be worrying for the rest of your life once little Jamie's here.'

'Oh, Jer, come on!'

Jeremy just grinned. 'Let's go get some hot wings.'


	72. Brunches

'Shush! You're gonna wake her up!'

'No, I'm not, Mama sad that pregnant ladies can sleep through lots!'

'Both of you quiet!'

Alexis heard the whispered quibbling through the fog of early-morning sleep and rubbed her belly when she felt the baby wake up with her. There was the smell of orange juice and toast and something else delicious she couldn't quite place. Rubbing her belly for multiple reasons, she opened her eyes to see Lanie's Three Musketeers in her room - Carey was holding a tray, Violet a pitcher of juice and Finn the milk carton.

'Hey guys, morning! What's all this? I thought it was special enough last night when Meredeth and her gang came over for our Mexican feast supper?'

'Mama said you get to be our pretty-pretty-princess almost-mama and have your breakfast in bed, so here.' Carey came over and carefully plunked the breakfast tray onto her bed over her knees, pointed to all the items. 'You get fruit salad, Mini-Wheats flavoured like strawberries-'

'Those are my fav-our-ites,' Finn interrupted.

'-and a BLT made with turkey bacon and spinach and light mayo-naise.'

'You also get your choice of milk or orange juice to drink,' Violet added. 'Which would you like?'

'Hmm, let's start with juice.' Alexis picked up her sandwich and took a bite. 'Mmm, this is really good, guys, thank you.'

'But...what about your cereal?' Finn looked at her with wide, hurt eyes while Carey and Violet rolled theirs. 'I picked it out 'specially for you, Alexis.'

'Finn always eats his cereal at the start of weekend breakfast,' Violet explained, patting her brother's shoulder. 'He thinks if you don't even try it first, it means you don't like it.'

'Oh, I see.' Knowing her job Alexis picked up a square of cereal, munched as she looked at her plate. 'You know what Finn?'

'What?'

'I think I need some of that milk so I can have some cereal now. It's got lots of fibre in it, right?'

'That's the stuff that makes us poop right, right?'

'Exactly.'

'Then yes it does,' Finn agreed, feeling his ego undent.

'So I'll have some now, then my sandwich, then some more cereal.'

'Cool! You want some milk?'

'Actually I'll have them without milk right now so they don't go soggy.'

'Ahem, ahem. Larry, Curly, Moe, what are you guys up to?'

The children turned to see their mother in the doorway; Lanie was wrapped in her robe and had a mug in her hands as she smiled lovingly at them.

'We brought Alexis her breakfast in bed because that's what Daddy did for you when Finny was a bumpy!' Carey said brightly.

'How about you guys go find your own breakfast and let us big girls have some time together.'

'Okay!' Finn put the carton on the bedside table, then carefully rubbed Alexis' belly. 'Eat up little Jamie! Lotsa fun stuff to do today!'

With the children occupied, Lanie joined her friend on the foot of the bed while Alexis ate her breakfast. 'They get that from their daddy, but the cooking skills Violet gets from me.'

'See that's a case in the pro-column for more than one, and I know I want more than one but right now I'm pretty damn scared about giving birth to this one.'

'The first one is always the scariest. But I'll tell you a secret I learned about being a mama the first time.'

'What's that?'

'It's normal to be scared. You're going to pass a whole human being out an opening the size of a wide-mouth Mason jar, who wouldn't be freaked out by that. But just remember that women all over the world go through it and you are not alone when you feel afraid.'

'Awww, mush mush mush,' Alexis teased her, using one of Shane's favourite phrases to help settle her own nerves after unwittingly let slip just out fucking freaked she was about the actual birthing process being a mere month - maybe sooner - away. 'So what's on the docket for today?'

'A total girl day. Violet's having a baking day with Nessa and Heddie, and the boys are going to the George-Esposito house for fun with Cam and Duncan, so you and I are going for massages, facials, and mani-pedis then we are going to have lunch at Roscoe's.'

'Oh that sounds so good!' Alexis sighed. 'I'm barely finished breakfast and can't wait for that! But really? What's the point of painting my toes when I can't even see them anymore?'

'Because if you get them done now, Shane can touch them up for you when you're in labour and make you feel nice and girlie. Dave did that for me and whether or not you think I'm nuts, I felt like a princess about to push.'

'Seriously?'

'Yep, Andrea loves to see our toes all dressed up. You know when Jojo was born, your mom had hers in silver and blue from celebrating Chanukah.'

'Well I'm having a baby in the fall so maybe I'll get mine in fall colour rainbows, and then...' Alexis trailed off breathed deeply which had Lanie going on alert.

'Honey, what is it? You having a baby or what?'

'Nope, I'm...just...' Alexis screwed up her face and she heard the muffled sound of a massive fart then smiled a blissful smile of relief. 'Oh, that's so much better.'

'I bet,' Lanie laughed. 'Don't be embarrassed either if you find you're going to the bathroom a lot and you need to wear disposable panties. The baby's pressing into your organs so that's totally-'

'Normal?'

'Exactly. Now hurry up and eat, and we'll be off to be pampered, polished and princess-ified.'

'That a technical term, Doctor Parrish-Robbins?'

'That's a Violet term, and if you have a little girl, be prepared to use it a lot.'

Alexis set aside her tray, got to her feet and felt that rush in the bladder Lanie mentioned. 'Hold that thought, I gotta pee like a mother.'

'I bet you do.'

She raced for the loo, barely making it in time but making it nonetheless; as she was washing her hands, she heard Violet's voice through the door.

'Alexis? Alexis, I have a present for you!'

'Really?' She opened the door and saw Violet holding out a little box to her. 'What's this?'

'It's a special box of nail polishes just for you. Mama said you need them for your special big girls' day.' When Alexis began to sniffle, Violet fluttered her hands. 'No-no-no! It's a happy thing! No tears! Mama!'

'It's okay, Violet, Alexis is just very touched you thought of her.'

'Oh. Well, still, you can't cry, then you can't see how pretty they look! They are all bright sparkly neon colours and they will be awesome!'

Alexis giggled, felt the baby's kicks. 'The baby says 'stop crying Mumum', so I'm going to listen to you both and have a great day today.'


	73. Sundays

There were times in Alexis' life when she reminded herself she had to thank her father for raising her with a decent set of core values instead of letting her affluenza run rampant the way it did for some of her classmates. She also liked to think that's why she'd gravitated towards a scholarship-student like Sloan when she'd been at Marlowe Prep and the other girls she'd made friends with at university

Being faced with the menu of options in front of her at the day-spa as she got her foot-soak and massage as step-one of the mani-pedi procedure was one such reminder.

'Lanie,' she hissed, 'how can we afford this place? It's like seventy dollars alone for fingernails! I know you and Dave make decent money since Dave got his promotion to supervisor but seriously that's a little excessive when forty or even twenty-five does the job enough, no?'

'Relax, my sweet, I'm not blowing all my fun money on you,' Lanie laughed. 'Dave's parents gave me a day for two at the spa for Christmas and I hadn't used it yet because I wanted to treat you after we found out you were expecting a little one since they do maternity full body massage here.'

'Ohhhh that sounds good.'

'Shane not loving you right?'

'What?' Alexis blinked; the question drew her away from the overpriced manicure options.

'From the sound of that sigh, I'm guessing you weren't so lucky to get the bunny gene during pregnancy?'

'Are you fucking nuts? No, I have a kink in my back no matter how much Shane works it out it always comes back so I'm thinking a registered massage therapist might help.' Alexis wanted to cross her legs and huff indignantly but since her feet were cozy in her foot-bath, she settled for the latter. 'Not loving me right, pfft. I'm surprised he doesn't walk sideways to work some mornings.'

'That's my girl.' Lanie reached over, patted Alexis' shoulder proudly.

'So for your toes you have the option of acrylics, tips, gels or just a buff and polish,' the technician informed Alexis as she turned off the bubble-jets in the foot-bath and cupped her ankle to draw her foot out for drying and massage. 'Any preference?'

'The buff and polish. Here, use these.' ALexis dipped into her purse and pulled out the box of colours Violet had given her; they had names like Electric Lime, Mega-Watt Magenta and Laser Lemon Yellow. 'I've tried other fake nails on my toes and they just feel funny inside nylons or socks. Unless my feet plan on being naked for a long time in the next few months I'd rather not.'

'Speaking of being naked, why haven't we heard a word from Sloan about the Real Live Women this year?' Lanie inquired, perusing the rack of colours and wondering if Dave would like the Sugar and Spice glittery-cinnamon colour or the bold and daring Funkalicious Fuchsia. Fuchsia it is, bold and daring, just like her own sweet self, she decided. 'Is she not doing it or what?'

'I can't say,' Alexis laughed, knowing that to ruin the amazing surprise Sloan had for them all would be a total disservice to her friend. 'Just trust me when I say that Sloan won't go without that tradition, okay?'

'Okay. Is Lindsay gonna do it to?'

'I don't know.' Alexis scratched her head, sighed. 'I think...no, I know she's been avoiding me lately, and I don't' know why, she says it's all good just trying to stay afloat as a new mama but I know she's lying. Or at least, not saying everything.'

'Maybe she's suffering from post-partum depression, and she's embarrassed by it?'

'Maybe, but why would you be embarrassed by that?'

Lanie shrugged. 'Because we're women and we're supposed to naturally bond with our babies, then feel defective when we can't?'

'Did you go through it?'

'A little, after Finn,' Lanie admitted. 'I went through a mama's support group because I kept having this weird feeling of guilt that because Finn was born via C-section I didn't really _have _a baby, you know?'

'You know he was like the fourth baby in our family to come via C-section and not the first emergency one either, right?'

'My brain knew that but my after-birth hormones were not having it,' she laughed. 'Anyways, having that support was quite helpful and made me feel less embarrassed, and most importantly when Meredeth and Max were sick I was in a much better and healthier place to

Lanie watched Alexis considered this, then got a little shock when the young woman opened her mouth and said quite simply, No.'

'No?'

'No, I don't buy it. I'm a therapist myself and I am one of her best friends. Why would she shut me out if it was something like that? She's a doctor herself too, she would know that getting a second opinion is a great idea. I just...I just need to talk to her. We're supposed to have lunch together tomorrow so I'm holding her to it and making her spill her guts.'

'If it is that, you can't push her to talk to you, sweetie. I know you're like me and want to make everything right for your loved ones, but this is something that Lindsay has to work through herself.'

Alexis pouted. 'That's not fair.'

'Oh, yeah, you are well and truly on your way to being a mama,' Lanie giggled, then inspected the colours on Alexis' toes. 'With a Day-Glo rainbow on her toes, I might add.'

'Aren't they wonderful? Alexis grinned proudly when looked down and saw her toes were now a myriad of neon hues. 'Just remember it was your daughter who gave me these colours.'

'Oh, yeah.' Lanie wrinkled her nose in a smile, then saw Alexis take her phone from her purse. 'Calling Lindsay?'

'Texting. She likes text better now since little Zane is finally getting into a routine of naps and she can set the phone to vibrate in her pocket while he does and she has a chance to relax.'

Since her feet were getting the majority of the attention still, Alexis quickly sent Lindsay a little text message - _hey new mama, we're still on for lunch tomorrow?_

_Sure we are, but come here first instead, I have stuff to talk about,_ was the reply a few minutes later and Alexis didn't know whether to be relieved or scared. 'Oh, God, what if Adam did something,' she wondered outloud and this time Lanie actually leaned over and hit her in the head.

'Girl, don't even,' she warned her. 'You know as well as I do that Adam Brennan has had a lot of screw-ups in the past and that he has long since learned and grown from them, and there is nothing in the world that would make him hurt Lindsay or Zane. Stop being a crazy-bitch, hormones!'


	74. Bad News

_Hello everyone! Hope you are as excited as I am that we have our wonderful lovebirds back on Monday nights! This chapter is a lot more serious than the other ones, so I'd advise a tissue or two!_

* * *

On Monday morning, after finishing her half-day at work, Alexis distracted herself from worrying about her friend by calling her husband; she wasn't at all surprised to hear the sleepiness in his voice, since he and the boys had gone to catch another Mets-Giants game at The Sports Line the night before and she was very certain his pals had spent the night getting him good and liquored up to toast the imminent arrival of the baby.

'Hey baby, and baby,' he slurred. 'What's up? What time is it?'

'Almost eleven, and I'm on my way to Lindsay's. I just wanted to remind you that I need you to pick up my dry-cleaning for me since I'm spending the day with Lindsay and won't get home until after they close.'

'Yeah, sure, no problem, I won't forget. I love you.'

'Love you too, Shane,' Alexis smiled, then trudged up the stairs to push the button for Lindsay and Adam's apartment. 'Hey mama!'

'Hey, come on up.'

Alexis didn't like hearing the tension in Lindsay's voice one bit; it reminded her of when Lindsay was first seeing Adam and anxious about telling him that she'd been raped, certain it would drive him off. Then Alexis remembered that rather than being a jerk, Adam had given Lindsay exactly what she needed and they'd ended up here - married with a new baby boy.

When Lindsay opened the door, Alexis had a smile on her face she would keep there until she could figure out what the fuck was up with her friend. 'Hey, sweetie, how's it going?'

'Okay, I guess.'

'You look amazing Linds,' she replied, and it was true - breast-feeding was doing wonders for Lindsay's already statuesque figure and already helping to take off the baby weight. 'I hope I look that good when I'm two months post-birth.'

'Goddamn it, Lex, it not always about you,' Lindsay snapped and Alexis lifted her eyebrows. Well that didn't last long, she thought miserably.

'I know, honey-'

'And don't call me honey,' she added tersely before going to the couch and she picked up a towel from the half- empty basket, folded it with sharp gestures.

'Lindsay, talk to me,' Alexis told her gently. 'What's wrong? Why have you been shutting me out? I thought everything was fine with you and Adam and Zane.'

'Adam and Zane are great. I've got a healthy, happy little boy who suffers from too many hugs and kisses from his mama and daddy.' Lindsay let her hands drop the towel before she slumped down on the coffee table. Alexis came over, sat on the couch in front of her friend, put her hands on her knees.

'I can't have any more kids, Lex.' The words burst from Lindsay on a distressed sob as she dissolved into heartbroken tears.

'Oh no.' Alexis put her fingertips to her mouth. 'Lindsay, I'm so sorry, what- how do you know? Is it biology, or-'

'When Bishop did my check-up at six-weeks post birth, he said the excessive scar tissue on my uterus from such a hard push-birth means I have a less than fifteen percent chance of an embryo being able to attach and grow into a full-fledged foetus.'

'Lindsay.' Alexis was crying along with her friend now, and tugging her onto the couch when Lindsay's crying deepened. 'Lindsay, I'm so sorry.'

'Adam said it's okay because we already have Zane and we can adopt when we want another baby, but...but what kind of judge or state or whatever is going to give a doctor and a cop a baby?'

'The kind who see that you love your family and would never make an adopted child feel like and outsider.'

'I've always wanted a big family, Lex, and now it looks like I'll never have it.'

Alexis said nothing, just let Lindsay cry it out; it suddenly made perfect sense why her friend didn't want to be around her. 'Sweetie,' she murmured, 'you thought things would be over with Adam after the third date when you told him about being raped and look where you are now. Married with a beautiful baby boy. So maybe, maybe this isn't the end, just a detour.'

'Maybe,' Lindsay agreed.

'Why don't we spend the day out, doing girl stuff together and then we'll go to my mom and dad's for dessert? Mom's already having Mere and Andrea over for cake-and-wine night.'

'That sounds really good.'

* * *

When Beckett arrived home, she wasn't surprised at all to see Alexis there with Lindsay, Andrea and Meredeth sitting at the island as Alexis rummaged in the fridge. 'Hi, Lex,' she ventured cautiously and had to swallow the laugh when the woman stood up, a bottle of chocolate syrup in one hand and the banana bread in the other. 'Are we have a sugar-moment, mommy?'

'We are having a why-men-suck moment,' Meredeth clarified.

'Ah, yes, aside from sex and fixing computers why do we need them?'

'Target practice,' Alexis snarled cheerfully, switching on a pan to melt butter while she sliced the banana bread. 'Especially my husband.'

'What happened?'

'All I asked was for one teeny tiny little favour while I was at work today and he had the day off, ad do you think that could be accomplished? No, of course not,' she huffed.

'What did he do? Or not do, as it were?' Andrea asked, sipping her tea.

' I asked him, Shane please pick up my dry cleaning because you're off today and my plans for today won't let me get over there before it closes. It's four freakin' blocks from our apartment, and what does he say when I call before I get here? Oops, sorry honey. I mean, God, all he was doing today was sitting on his ass with Body playing video games and recovering from a hangover! They couldn't have taken a break, fifteen friggin' minutes to do me that one little favour?'

'Okay, you are going to give the baby palpitations in a minute so just breathe,' Meredeth told her; Beckett looked at their sombre faces and arched an eyebrow.

'Somehow I get the feeling this is about more than dry-cleaning.'

'Lindsay has some bad news for us,' Andrea said gently, and Beckett felt the word 'cancer' flash neon in her brain.

'I can't have any more kids. Zane was too hard on my uterus and there's too much scar tissue,' she explained and Beckett nodded.

'I'm so sorry Lindsay, but you know there's adoption, right? You and Adam would be great candidates for that, and when the time comes to make those applications, we will tell them if they don't pick you they're crazy in the head.'

Lindsay smiled as her tears poured once more, and Alexis smiled as Beckett hugged her in a wonderfully motherly way, asking her what kind of toppings she wanted on her banana toast. 'See tiny,' she murmured, 'this is your family, we always have each other's back.'


	75. Apologies

'So do they hurt?'

'What?'

'Your knees, from having to grovel to your wife?'

Shane sent Body a lethal stare as he finished tossing the greens with the Cesar salad dressing. 'Like you've never had to humble yourself for Faisal.'

'Oh, all the time. I'm just basking in the fact that you and Alexis finally prove you're a normal couple by having her flip out on your ass.'

'We have our spats, but not really a fight. In my mind, fight was what I saw my parents do when they were 'discussing' at the top of their lungs my mother's decision to take me to Israel with her when she was offered the post at the Mossad headquarters.'

Shane looked around at the table, praying everything looked just right for his girl. He knew she'd had a good meal with Lindsay but she'd taken to eating five small meals a day and would be hungry when she came home shortly. He'd gotten off his ass and roasted some chicken in the oven with the low-salt cajun Shake-and-Bake she liked, made her favourite mashed potatoes and Body, being the generous chap he was, had whipped up a batch of his broccoli roasted asparagus soup. Shane had added a candle to the table and had a bottle of Alexis' much-loved cranberry juice to a wine-chiller that she could pour into a martini glass and pretend was a Cosmo or the like.

'I think it looks good, yeah?' he asked Body, and he nodded.

'I think she'll love it. You've got the pastries I brought in the fridge?'

'Yeah but they might not get eaten just yet because Alexis doesn't want a lot of junk food now. She'll probably go for the fruity frozen yogurt instead.'

'Fair enough. And there she is,' Body said sweetly when the door opened and Alexis walked in with a slightly mutinous expression. 'Still sore at my man?'

'A tad but since I can tell he's buttering me up with deliciousness I may start to feel in a forgiving mood.'

'Well go easy on him, everyone slips up now and then.'

'I know, but those kinds of things that make complete logical sense have no place in a pregnant brain,' she said with such wistfulness that Shane had to laugh as Body made his exit. Alone with her husband, Alexis gave him a regretful look. 'I'm sorry I chewed you out over the dry-cleaning.'

'It's okay.'

'Stupid hormones are getting to me, and Lanie says they still act like that after the baby comes but they taper off pretty quickly.' Alexis shook her head, rubbed her belly where the baby was settling down for the night. 'And I made up with Lindsay but what she said made me so mad-'

'About what Bishop said about having more babies? Adam told me yesterday.'

'Did he?'

'Yeah.' Shane heard the oven timer go off and he reached for his hot-hands. 'That's really rough and Adam said Lindsay is trying not to blame herself but she's taking it pretty hard.'

'Can you blame her? She opted not to have the drugs and she thinks that's the root cause.'

'Ah. And the fact that she was told this would happen even with the drugs means what?'

'That's the part she's trying to fully absorb,' Alexis said with a sad smile. 'You know I'm taking the drugs, right?'

'Oh, I know, and we get to talk about that tomorrow night at our birthing class. In the meantime, you hungry?'

'Of course.'

They ate quietly, trying not to think of the heart-breaking news from their friends, instead focusing on sharing the details of their weekend. Shane laughed as he listened to her stories about the antics of the Parrish-Robbins kids and he told her stories of how they'd gotten the nursery done in very short order since just about every man in their acquaintance was there to help. Shane had a momentary internal debate of whether or not to tell Alexis that the guys had had great fun teasing him when he'd been clueless to the fact the waitress at the Sports Line was trying to hit on him and he'd proudly bragged about his wife the doctor just about to have a baby.

'Oh, Shane, really?' Alexis laughed. 'You really blew off a waitress without even realizing it?'

'I don't consider it blowing her off because in my mind the choice between you and any other woman is no choice at all. You always win.'

'Aww, Shane.' She smiled, then burped delicately. 'Even when I do that?'

'Especially when you do that, because you used to get so embarrassed by letting yourself be human around me.'

'Yeah, I remember the first time I got my period while we were together, I was so embarrassed.'

Shane reached across the table, took her hand. 'I think that was worse than your cramps, my love. I still have no idea why, though. I was already crazy about you, perceived flaws and all.'

'Chalk it up to feminine insecurity. Is there ice cream?'

'Of course, and pastries from Body too.'

'Mmm, ice cream, or should I say fro-yo, is better.'

'First, the fruits of my labour to welcome home the fruits of your labour in five weeks time.'

Shane tugged her hand so Alexis was on her feet, rubbing her belly as much to help digestion as to soothe the baby's nightly kicks. He led her into the living room with its rearranged furniture to the glass-fronted doors of what had been Shane and Alexis' home office and was now the nursery. There were bright green curtains on the doors now; Shane opened the double doors into the space and Alexis gasped in delight.

'Oh...oh Shane, it's perfect!'

The walls were a beautiful green that matched the curtains on the doors and windows, it turned out, and there was a stunning oak crib against the wall with the words 'Baby Weaver' carved into the headboard in curlicues above a Star of David to honour Shane's religion. In the corner between the foot of the crib and the window was an overstuffed armchair shades of green deeper than the paint on the walls; it would be perfect for late night cuddles and nursing and napping.

On the wall opposite the crib was a single long table-top bench with space for changing the baby as well as folding its laundry to put in the oak-coloured wooden bureau. Underneath the bench were coloured buckets each labeled for items such as 'diapers', 'creams and ointments', 'wash-cloths', and other useful things to keep handy. On the wall above the bench were rows of words big and small that said things like 'peanut butter and jelly', 'salt and pepper', 'ketchup and mustard'. Famous pairs, Alexis thought with a smile, but the true glory were the rows of pictures - all the children hugging or kissing the bumpy.

'So? hubby did good?' Shane inquired and Alexis turned to him with a watery smile, eyes sparkling with happy tears.

'Papa did perfect,' she told him. 'Now how about the ice cream?'


	76. Dates: 35 Weeks 5 Days

'Bye desk.'

Alexis looked at her desk once more, knowing the next time she'd see it would be when she was coming back from maternity leave. She looked around with a slightly sad little smile, and wondered if all women felt the mix of guilt and glee she was feeling about officially starting maternity leave.

'Oh, come now Doctor you know you're not going to miss us at all.'

Alexis looked over her shoulder, saw the senior most psychiatrist on staff Doctor Jarvis there. 'I will miss my patients, but you? Meh, not so much.'

'Get out of here you cheeky thing,' Jarvis laughed; he knew he'd miss their easy-going banter while she was off. 'I thought I saw that tall dark and handsome baby daddy of yours hanging around by reception.'

'Woohoo!'

'Here, allow me.'

Jarvis picked up her briefcase for her as he walked her out to the reception area where sure enough, Shane was there with a smile on his face when he saw her. Alexis felt her heart flutter madly in her chest when she saw him perk up at the sight of her; as big as she was it was clear he still thought her beautiful.

'There's my Kinder-Surprise,' he said sunnily, giving her a warm kiss.

'How are you still awake, Shane?' she laughed. 'Weren't you on a double.'

'Two words - double espresso. I'm trying to come down off the caffeine right now so I thought I'd come and pick you up, then we'd go catch a movie or something.'

'Okay, sounds good.'

Shane took her briefcase and because like hell he was going to make his wife use the subway. Now that Alexis was officially on maternity leave, he whistled down a taxi to take them to the AMC on East Nineteenth so that they were close enough to home that when the movie let out they would be able to walk to stretch their legs without the distance being unreasonable.

'So what are you thinking? The re-issue of _Treasure Planet_ in 3D or that new Ben Affleck crime thriller with Tommy Keane?'

'How about that one?' Alexis pointed to the poster of a rather scary looking vampire flick that promised lots of blood and guts and gore. 'It looks like fun.'

'Seriously?'

'Shane, I'm about to give birth. A scary movie is gonna make me feel way better.'

Shane, being a very smart man, knew it was crucial to his own sanity and the skin on his ass that he not question his bumpy little bride's logic. Instead, he got their tickets, then followed her over to the Outtakes stand where she was mumbling allowed to herself. He ducked around two twiggy little blondes to put his hand on Alexis' back and gently rubbed the spot where he knew she was getting a perpetual kink thanks to the way the baby was turning itself around.

'I can get the poutine and the popcorn and the root-beer, or do I want a sandwich too? Yeah, I want the sandwich too. Or do I? Stupid hormones can't make up their minds.'

'What's a poutine?' Shane asked, and Alexis gave him a look.

'You know when we have Canadian Thanksgiving, and Dave makes us all bowls of fries with cheese curds and gravy?'

'Uh-huh.'

'That's a poutine, and they have them here.' Alexis pointed to the menu board. 'But I'm trying to decide if I want a sandwich too.'

'I think you should get the nuggets because then you dip and nibble and not feel like you are wasting food if you don't eat all of it honey.'

'I feel guilty, though, I don't think there is a single redeeming nutritional thing in any of that.'

'Well, popcorn is high in fibre,' Shane reminded her, 'and root-beer is caffeine free...and...excuse me, do you have something to say?'

Alexis blinked, saw her husband looking at the blondes behind them, giving Alexis pointed looks and sniggering rather indiscreetly behind their hands. Even more unpleasant was the snarling gargoyle expression on Shane's face as he glared the twigs down.

'I said do you have something to say,' he repeated to them, and Blondie One gave him a sneering little smile.

'Just thinking how sweet it is that a man will buy his wide-assed wife who clearly needs no more junk food whatever fried treats she wants.'

'Maybe at home in Redneck, Mississippi it's attractive but here in the city, we have something called self control,' Blondie Two added.

'Right.' Shane pursed his lips, then turned Alexis around so the women could see her hugely pregnant belly; it was perfect timing on the baby's part that she needed to rub her hands in circles to soothe the little one. 'Sweetie, I think these ladies have you confused with someone else.'

'Oh?'

'They thought you were one of the weirdos from _Real Housewives of Jackson.' _Shane took gleeful, delicious pride in watch the blonde twigs blanch like almonds as they realized their grave error in class and taste. 'You feeling alright?'

'Just hungry and indecisive. No, no. Baby wants the poutine, popcorn and the root-beer. You are getting the chicken thingies and I'll steal yours,' Alexis declared; when she watched the blondes scuttle off. 'What was that all about?'

'I could hear them whispering behind you and I didn't like them talking smack about my woman.'

She grinned, tugged him in for a kiss. 'Maybe later we can play good-cop bad-cop?'

'It's a date.'

'No, this is a date. A juvenile, dinner at the concession stand I'll let you grope my breasts in the dark, teenage date.' Alexis grinned. 'Isn't it fabulous?'

They stepped up to order, and Shane, knowing his sweet little strawberry well, purchased two orders of the chicken bites with hot mustard sauce after she'd put in her order of snacks. Armed with food and a butt-load of napkins - Alexis always made herself a little paper bib so she wouldn't ruin her clothes - they found their seats; Alexis hadn't realized how hungry she really was until she sat down and most of her poutine was gone during the trailers for upcoming films. She burped delicately, then snuggled against Shane's shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her. When she felt his thumb stroke the side of her breast, she giggled.

'That's not groping,' she teased him.

'No, that comes later...with other things.'

Alexis laughed, then massaged between her breasts before she let out a massive burp. Thankfully since the closest person to them was three rows in front - apparently since they were going to the dinner-time show they were missing the major rush - no one paid them much mind. 'Shane?'

'Alexis?'

'I think I might need some chocolate covered raisins too.'

'We have them at home, we can play a naughty game with them later.'

'Like what?'

Shane laughed, leaned over to nibble her ear lobe. 'I'll tell you when we get there.'

'Mmm, Shane?'

'Yes, Alexis,' he grinned, pressing his lips to her throat and making her giggle. 'What is it?'

'Now we're acting like teenagers.'


	77. Teasers

'So, here's how it is, my main man. If you hadn't been such a lying dick-weed to the wife, the mistress and the piece of tail in the Hamptons, then you and I wouldn't be having this conversation.'

Shane picked up his ten-blade, sighed at Harrison Levitt IV on his table and draped from the waist down. 'Now you're looking at three women fighting over the money that we all know should be going to the daughter you never visit from your first wife since she is the only blood heir you have. No way would that prissy bimbo want to safe-guard your legacy.'

He sighed, began to do his exam on the man and was down to the cheating heart when Ryan and Esposito wandered in, squabbling like the old pseudo-married couple they were.

'Dude, I'm telling you, there is very little chance that Dell or Mallory is going to win the baby pool.'

'Give me one good reason why the baby couldn't be born on September eleventh.'

'Because it's bad juju for one, and another that's four days early. Seventy-five to eight percent of babies arrive after their due date.'

'Fine.' Ryan turned to Shane. 'Any chance Alexis thinks she'll be popping early?'

'I hope not. I have to go to Quantico on the eight of September and I'll be mighty pissed if I'm not there when she goes into labour.'

'Whoa, whoa, whoa.' Esposito made a beeping noise. 'Back it up, bro. You're going to the Quantico seminar a week before Alexis' due date?'

'It's mandatory if I want to apply for the day-shift supervisory position so I can have more regular hours now that the baby's almost here.'

'Dude, does Alexis know you're going?'

'She knows I'm going and we've had more than a few cross words about it. Mostly we don't talk about it because I'm trying to go to the December conference and I'm still on the waiting list.'

'Understandable bro,' Ryan agreed, 'but you better pray like hell you can go in December instead of three weeks from now or you will find out just how spry a woman thirty-six weeks can be.'

'Wow.' Esposito grinned. 'Alexis is thirty-six weeks pregnant. I remember when we first met her. She hadn't even had her first boyfriend, or her first kiss.'

'I think it's safe to say we got the biggest drop on you two when you found out we were together,' Shane reminded them as he deposited Harrison's lungs in a metal dish. 'That I think, will go down as the most hilarious moment of our relationship. Even more hilarious than the night we got food poisoning on our first anniversary together, or when RJ walked in on us having sex and making our little bundle of joy.'

'He saw you guys doing it?' Esposito cracked up, doubling over until tears ran down his face. 'How has that one not come up?'

'Mostly because Alexis' parents kicked both our asses for being worse than teenage babysitters.'

'Anyways.' Ryan shook his head trying to bring them all back to Earth. 'Who is your money on to win the baby pool.'

'I think either Nate or Kelley will take it.'

'Yeah?'

'Kelley has a boy for the sixteenth and Nate has a boy on the eighteenth. Jojo has a girl on the eighteenth, but I think she's doomed to disappointment.'

'Still won't cry quits on thinking it's a girl?'

'Every time RJ calls the baby little Jamie, she says that Petra shouldn't listen to him and get any funny ideas. Attempting to explain to a four-year-old that the baby's parts are already grown by now is an exercise in futility.'

'You'd think being our kids they are a little more well versed in sexual development and biology by now,' Esposito said cheekily, 'what with Max getting a free show from me and Mere, and RJ interrupting you guys.'

'Actually, I find it quite comforting that the kids don't know all of it yet,' Ryan countered. 'Anyways, you up for getting a beer after shift, bro?'

'Nope, sorry. Alexis called me and says she has news to share from her and the girls getting together with Sloan about the Real Live Women shoot. Sloan finally told them why they are doing the shoot so late this year.'

'Ah, yeah, that is cause to celebrate.'

'So thanks for the visit, but sorry to say we're not close to a baby popping out yet. That goes for you two also.'

Esposito batted his eyes like his Princess Tessi. 'Whatever do you mean, bro?'

'Come on, I know you're in here trying to feel me out for you to report to your kids, I know you guys are all taking wagers on Alexis too and I know that because my father-in-law is the one running the books on it. When are you guys betting on.'

It took Ryan about two seconds to crack. 'September fourteenth.'

'Dude! How the hell did you even pass your Interview courses in the Academy?' Esposito winced.

'I have other interview skills, bro.'

'Javi?' Shane removed his patient's intestines, deposited them into another waiting metal bowl. 'Are you going double or nothing?'

'Nah, I've got my money on the twenty-first. I don't think Alexis will pop early or even on time like Andrea and Honey-Milk and Lanie were when they had their first babies. I think she'll be more towards the Meredeth-Beckett-Lili school of baby-having. What about you?'

'What about me what?'

'I know you're not allowed to wager on your own baby, one of Castle's house rules, but when do you think it'll happen?'

'Like I said, I really don't care as along as Alexis and the baby make it through in one piece. Now.' Shane made a show of checking his wall clock. 'We've been baby-talking for nearly twenty-minutes and I've still got this to finish before I go home to Kinder-Surprise.'

'That's our name for her now?' Esposito grinned.

'No, that's my name for her because that's the only one I can use without getting a kick in the nuts in bed when she says she's enough for two Alexises, and I stupidly try to reassure her she is just gorgeous. You guys find your own safety word.'

'Fair enough.'

Shane nodded, then arched an eyebrow. 'Was that the only reason you guys stopped by or did you also need that pesky Will Newman file?'

'Well that is the excuse we needed to come over and needle you.' Ryan grinned his wasn't-me-Sister-Josilia Catholic school smile. 'But our goal was always to get a rise out of you. Later, bro.'

The detectives left, and Shane pointed his scalpel at his patient. 'I'm willing to bet the fact you didn't have brothers like that watching your ass is the reason your ended up here. Now, let's get a look at that cheating heart of yours.'


	78. Snaps: 36 Weeks, 2 Days

'This is Weaver.'

'Shane, I need you on a crime scene here.'

'Sorry, Kate, can't do it. Im' off the on-call at seven and it is seven-oh-four. Call Baccarin, she's on the docket now.'

Without a second thought, Shane hung up on his mother-in-law and looked around the kitchen. It was spotless and he'd been in and out of the apartment all night doing laundry. The livign room had been vacuumed, dusted, as had the baby's room, whiel the bathroom had been sterilized within an inch of its life and once he was done making their breakfast he would give the kitchen the same treatment.

He looked at the stove and smiled when he saw his oatmeal was ready to go. High-fibre, high-iron, chewy and hearty which is what Alexis needed right now. there was also turkey-bacon to keep his little carnivore happy as well as a fresh-fruit and baby-spinach salad. That was a very useful tip from Esposito - Meredeth had loved fresh fruit and baby spinach together at breakfast because of all the wonderful health benefits it provided a woman carrying twins.

Alexis wasn't carrying twins but Shane knew she wanted green things so fresh they might run away if not properly supervised and given the way his precious little strawberry was more like a spiked-strawberry, Shane wasn't about to incur any kind of wrath.

He was just finishing arranging the plates when he saw the light appear in the bathroom, hear the noises of his angel-on-earth as she did her morning pregnant thing. He turned on the television to the morning show she liked on channel nine, then set about transferring oatmeal from pot to serving dish.

'Good morning, my love,' he said when he heard her coming into the kitchen and wasn't surprised at all when she snapped back at him.

'What's so fucking good about it? Turn that shit off!' Alexis waved a hand vaguely in the direction of the television. 'God, I just want quiet right now, two blessed minutes of quiet.'

'Did you not sleep well?'

'I haven't had a decent night's sleep since the first time I felt this one-' she jabbed her index fingers at her belly '-kick me for the first time.'

'I'm sorry, honey.'

'Damn right you should be. Why are you home?'

Not just bitchy, Shane not, but weary. Someone spoiling for a fight to relieve some of the anxiousness she felt at having had enough of being pregnant and ready to be a mother. 'I was on call midnight to one-to-seven but I didn't get called and it's my day off.'

'Don't you have a conference to fly off to?'

'No. I got it pushed back to December.' Shane had actually danced with joy when he'd gotten the call from the conference co-ordinators in Virginia about that one. 'They added two more sessions of seminars, so I'll fly out the fifth of December and be back on the ninth.'

He wasn't at all surprised when her shoulders slumped and she began to sniffle. 'It's okay sweetheart.'

'I hate this,' Alexis complained. 'I am so in love with having a baby but god-dammit I want to _have_ the baby already! I want to see its precious little face, and sing it lullabies, and count it's adorable little toesies...and...'

'It's okay,' Shane repeated; he put the oatmeal bowl on the table and wrapped his arms around her shaking shoulders. 'I know it's been rough, sweetie-'

'No, you don't! Until you've watched yourself become the size of Texas, had gas at both ends every day for eight and a half months, swollen feet, constant cravings with a chaser of vomiting, you can't even wear your wedding rings anymore-' she yanked up the chain where her engagement and wedding bands from her neck to dangle them in his face '-and everyone around you kisses your ass even when you're a raging black-ooze tar-monster of a bitch, then you just don't understand how fucking hard pregnancy is!'

Alexis waited for him to have a quippy comeback, felt nothing but pure confusion when he simply led her over to the couch and nudged her until she sat down. 'What?'

'Before breakfast, you need a little love.' Shane sat down, bent to pick up her poor swollen feet and put them in his lap. 'Here we go, my treasure.'

'What are you talking about, you-'

Alexis cut herself off mid-sentence when she felt the heel of his hand run over her aching arches. She tipped backwards, moaning as though he were making love to her. 'Ohhhhh, Shane, oh, god baby that feels so good.'

'See, those guys in _Pulp Fiction_ were right about foot massages.'

'Can't hear you,' Alexis replied blissfully. She was so tired, so damn tired these days; she rubbed her hand in circles over the mound of her belly. 'Although, if you are there, breakfast smells good.'

'See I knew my sweet little strawberry was in there still.'

'I'm awful.'

'You're pregnant, you've been multitasking since New Years,' Shane reminded her. 'And I don't recall you being awful. Scary sometimes, no question and occasionally farty but never awful.'

'Scary?'

He sent her a look as he wedged his thumb between her toes, worked out the joints. 'I know youv'e got preggo brain but you have to remember Day of the Poutine, right?'

'Oh yes I do,' Alexis giggled; that had been an absolute treat. For Violet's birthday she'd wanted all Canadian treats so they'd had peameal bacon sandwiches and poutine, which on paper sounded absolutely disgusting - cheescurds and gravy on French fries - yet one bite opened whole new worlds of flavour to Alexis' knocked-up tastebuds. The next day she'd sent Shane and Body on a mission to find somewhere in the city that made as good a poutine as Dave did for his only daughter's birthday party. In the end, after many samples and zero success, they'd caved and called up their favourite Italian-Canadian-American paramedic and he'd made them his family's recipe for poutine. He left the recipe with Shane, and a list of places to find the best cheese curds for making the Quebecois dish without losing their minds.

'Shane, can we have poutine?'

'For lunch?'

'No, now.'

'Alexis, it's barely seven thirty in the morning, darling. Besides, I made one of your favourites. Turkey bacon BLTs and oatmeal.'

'With the peanut-butter and cinnamon-sugar?'

'You know it.'

'Okay, then poutine for lunch.' Alexis struggled to sit up, frowned at Shane whne he nudged her back. 'What?'

'You've got two feet, my bumpy little strawberry, and I'm only halfway done one. Then after breakfast we're playing Wii, any game you want.'

'Even _Guardians of Valhalla Rise of the Leviathan_?'

'Even that one.'

'This your way of making sure the scary pregnant-lady bomb doesn't go off?'

'No. This is my way of making you feel as comfy as possibly, because I love you.'

'I love you too.'


	79. False Alarms I

'I have to say, nearly-naked video games rock.'

Shane kissed Alexis naked shoulder. The heat-wave of the summer had broken mid-August but thanks to the air-flow in their apartment, or lack theirof, Shane and Alexis were spending their evenings at home playing various Wii games of Alexis' choosing. 'Damn right they are.'

'Even with stretchy marks.'

'Stretchy-marks?'

'It's how I deal with them being part of pregnancy as a cutesy-boo name makes me feel like a mumum and less like a honking fatty.'

'Alexis.' Shane struggled to keep it together to get the words out. 'You are not a honking fatty. Maybe if you were this big in the winter and had a cold.'

'Maybe next time we do this, we should get pregnant so I'm eating over the holidays and feel far less guilty about all the groceries I consume. Not that I do right now, I mean that lull before I could feel the baby.'

'I remember that.'

'Hey, watch!'

Alexis put her Wii remote on her naked bump, made her avatar do somethign illegal so the remote vibrated. A few seconds later the bumpy visibly jiggled and Alexis laughed. 'Is Mumum teasing you sweetie? Yeah, A little bit, I'm sorry. If you were here I could kiss it all better.'

'If you were here and buzzing the baby with a Wii remote, this would be a whole different conversation,' Shane pointed out.

'Actually, when I was a colic baby and my mother would go shopping and leave me with my dad, he would put me on top of the washing machine in my little carrier.'

'Seriously?'

'Oh yeah, he said those were the days when he would tell me what he was planning next for Derrick Storm and I was his blue-eyed captive

'He didn't worry about you getting brain damage from the shaking?'

'No, because it was more like a humming, like you know how you get that nice yummy feeling when you sit in Jeremy's leather massage chair after you overdose on Sloan's Brasilian risotto?'

'Oh yeah,' Shane said on a sigh of love. 'That's going on my Christmas list.'

'It's like that for a baby with pains in its tummy, and...'

Shane glanced at Alexis as she trailed off, sat upright when he saw her go very still. 'Lex?'

'I...I think I might have just had a contraction, Shane.'

'Seriously?' Shane tossed his video game controllers on the table, turned to his wife who had also sat up straighter. 'How long? Is this the first one?'

'No, I thought I had anther one about fifteen minutes ago, but I was sitting funny so I thought it was just a muscle spasm.'

Every instinct in Shane's body wanted to jump up and down for joy that the baby might finally make his or her appearance. One look at Alexis' eyes told him she needed him to be arctic-frigid calm. 'Okay, okay, I'm here, sweetheart, I'm just going to get my watch to time it, alright?'

'Mm-hmm.'

He zipped into the bedroom, found his watch after a quick moment of panic in his pants pockets from earlier - what the fuck it was doing there he hadn't a clue - and zipped back out to sit with Alexis. 'Did you have another one while I was gone?'

'No. The last one was about four minutes ago.'

'Okay.' Shane held her hand, alternating his glances between her face and the watch-face, noting the time about ten minutes later when she tightened her grip on his hand. 'Alright, sweetie, breathe it out, just breathe, just like we learned in class.'

'Right, right.' Alexis closed her eyes , drawing air in through the nose and blowing it out through the mouth in one long exhale. She did this several times until she felt the clench of her belly muscles loosen; she felt her shoulders slump and she smiled. 'How long was that one?'

'About forty seconds in length. You want some tea or a back-rub?'

'Tea. That would be good. The Meyer lemon one from Trader Joe's, baby.'

Shane nodded, headed for the kitchen; he glanced over to see that Alexis' eyes were closed so he sent a quick text to Andrea - she'd been in charge of the Lamaze class Alexis and Shane had attended and had told her friends that if Alexis thought she was going into labour, she was at their disposal via text or voice whenever they needed her. _Andrea, Alexis thinks she might be having contractions._

He rubbed his thumb over the screen, desperately wanting to add _what do I do_, but that seemed too needy, too cliche. Instead he added, _should I take her to the hospital right away?_

The wait for the reply was agony but Shane kept himself occupied by fixing Alexis' tea just how she liked it, extra strong with a dab of sugar until he felt the phone buzz in his pocket - _if they remain consistent for over a ninety minutes, take her to the hospital for a check. _

'Here we are, sweetheart.' Shane passed her the cup, watched her sip gently at first, then a little more and more until she was chugging her tea like an Irishman with Guinness on Saint Patty's. 'Easy, darling, easy.'

'I'm not a horse.' But there was no snap in her voice, just nerves and Alexis gave him a shaky smile. 'What if this is it? What if the baby is really coming? Plenty of women go into labour before their water breaks. Lanie did with Violet, Meredeth did for all of her kids, so did Andrea with Heddie and Sloan with Nate, and-'

'Alexis, it's okay to be scared. I'm scared too, but just remember the labour is only a few hours out of a lifetime with a beautiful creature we made out of nothing but pure love.'

'Oh Shane, that's so sweet.' Alexis sighed deeply, held out her cup. 'A little more?'

'Of course.'

Shane headed for the kitchen for more tea, came back with another cup his wife drank at a more reasonable pace this time. 'Are you feeling better?'

'Yeah, I...I think it's a false alarm. I think it was just Braxton-Hicks.'

'Yeah?'

'The books said that Braxton-Hicks are different than the real thing and...and...' Alexis leaned sideways and gassed, then sighed in relief. 'Oh God. Oh, that's better.'

'Maybe it was just gas from the refried beans from dinner, sweetheart.'

'I think so.' Alexis let out a little laugh. 'Some mother I'll make, I can't tell the difference between gas and labour?'

'You stayed cool and logical when you thought there was a serious situation about our little one. That says great mother to me.'

'You too, almost-Papa.' She grinned at him. 'What did Andrea say?'

'What do you mean?'

'Shane. Come on. I think I'm going into labour for the first time? I know you asked her advice.'

'Kinda makes me a big suck, huh?'

'You stayed cool and logical when you thought there was a serious situation about our little one,' Alexis told him, using his own words on him. 'That says great father to me.'


	80. Cards Night

'Daddy, can I stay tonight?'

RJ followed his father around the loft like a shadow, as Castle got things ready for a Thursday night of poker with the boys. He stared longingly at the green felt-topped table, poking at the stacks of plastic chips with his index finger and restacking them when one poke sent them tumbling.

'I don't think so, RJ.'

'Why not? I'm getting to be a big boy now, and I'm Shane's brother-in-law, and it's a bros night, right? I'm a bro, I should get to join in.'

'But have you gotten married and had your own babies?'

'No, but Trini and I pretnd to be married and Omeo is our baby,' RJ protested, sensing he was losing ground.'

'Exactly. I know you and Shane have a special relationship, RJ, and no one forgets that but you have a different relationship with him than Javier and Kevin and Cam and Dave do.'

'Kinda how like Alexis and Jojo have their girl days together and Jojo and I have special days together?'

'Something like that.' Castle turned, gave his son a hug. He could feel the tension in the almost-eight-year-old's shoulders, frowned. 'RJ, you getting nervous about the baby coming?'

'No. Well maybe a little bit. There's a girl in my class at school, her mom got remarried and had another baby with her new step-dad, and she says she can't hardly ever see them because they're always busy with the little one.'

'That's a totally natural fear to have but you have to remember something else too.'

'What's that?'

'You were the first real baby Shane ever was around that meant something to him, and he always volunteered to babysit you when he could see your mumum needed a night alone with me. And, I'll tell you something else.'

RJ's eyes went round with anticipation. 'What's that?'

'The night that Meredeth was ready to have Leo and Trini, Shane stayed here all night with you so we could be there for our friend. We didn't ask him to, he just did it, because he loves you.'

'I love him too. It should be funny to say that about another man but Shane is a brother just like Dell and Carey and Devon and Nate and everyone else.' RJ shuffled his feel a little. 'I feel silly.'

'Don't. You know something else?'

'What?'

'You were a protective big bro from the moment I told you your little sister was here, and you were the first person to call her Jojo.'

'Really?'

'Yep, you said she was too little to be a Johanna so you called her Jojo.'

'That's very cool! Shane!' RJ raced over to see his brother-in-law who was just coming through the door. 'Did you know I kinda named Jojo?'

'I did, and I remember too when you were about two months old and I was holding you, I asked you if you wanted a niece or nephew.' Shane scooped RJ up; the boy loved to be hugged. 'You responded by wrinkling up your nose and farting at me.'

'How is Alexis feeling today?'

'Big and pregnant but she is very excited the baby will be here soon. She also said for me to tell you that you and your sister are invited for a bros-and-sisters-only supper on Saturday night at our place.'

'Cool!' RJ looked at his father as Shane set him back on his feet, then raced off. 'Guess I am a worry-wart like Mumum after-all.'

Shane waited until RJ was out of range, then looked at Castle who passed him a cold beer. 'What's that all about?'

'He was getting a little nervous you might not have the bro-mance you do now once the baby is here.'

'Pfft, yeah, right, I'll be sending him so many messages and photos of our sweet little bubbel he'll be praying for school where he can't use his electronics,' Shane chuckled. 'He'll be completely sick of me. Jojo too.'

'Jojo doesn't worry in the same way RJ does, you know that.'

'I do, I...I need to get that,' he said as his phone went off. When he saw it read 'Home' his heart was in his throat. 'Lex, honey, are you okay?'

'Yes, big papa, I'm fine,' she giggled. 'Just wanted to tell you I have Andrea, Sloanie and Lindsay here to play with baby Zane while you clean up at Texas Hold'Em, and they are going to be here until you get home tonight.'

'Oh, sweetie, I-'

'Sloan is on vacation before she and Jeremy take the boys to Portugal in October, Andrea is off until Monday and Lindsay's on mat leave. My girls are here in case something happens and we need to interrupt the card game. Love you, over-protective papa.'

'Love you too, Kinder-Surprise.'

Shane hung up the phone, looked at Castle who was trying hard not to grin smugly at his son in law. 'Snicker all you like, dude, you didn't see yourself when Kate was pregnant with RJ.'

'I wasn't that bad.'

'Oh, I beg to differ.'

'How about we all agree that Ryan was the worst and leave it at that?' Castle suggested and Shane nodded, dirnking his beer before looking at it with worry. 'If Alexis goes into labour, we won't let you show up half-bombed, so you're gonna switch between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beers.'

'Soft beer is gross.'

Castle simply went to the sideboard where the snacks and drinks were stored and pointed, making Shane feel like a little bit of an idiot. 'Reed's ginger-beer. Of course. I should have guessed.'

'You've got other things on your mind. Tonight, we're just gonna see if the theory holds true.'

'What's that?'

'If pregnant wives are good luck charms at the poker table.'

The theory did indeed pan out - once the rest of the men arrived and the cards were dealt, not a single person could hold a candle to Shane's good luck. By the sixth hand out of eight the papa-to-be was raking in the chips once more, making Ryan groan.

Damn, Shane, remind us to tell you not to knock Alexis up any more, I'm losing everything tonight,' he whined. 'Not fair.'

'Sure, it is. He's been putting up with Alexis' mood swings, vomiting, hormone snaps, hormone hots, though that last one probably isn't too much of a hardship, right?' Esposito winked at him, making Dave roll his eyes.

'Dude, you know that's Castle's daughter and he's sitting right there, right?'

'David, the've been together for almost eight years, married for four of them, and she's about to give birth.' Cam twirled his new cane - a spiffy little mahogany number from Jim Beckett - and shook his head. 'I think the cat's out of the bag.'

'Or shower,' Esposito added with a laugh, and this time it was Shane who rolled his eyes.

'Really? Eight years later and you still bring that up?'

'Sure do. Now cut the deck.'


	81. False Alarms II: 37 Weeks, 3 Days

Alexis woke with a little groan, sighing at the desperately uncomfortable feeling in her back. She wanted to roll over and stare at the ceiling but Bishop had told her that lying on her side was better for the baby.

'It sucks for me but it's great for you and you're smaller so you win, sweetheart,' she murmured to the bump, then sat up as she felt the baby kick her in the kidneys. She yawned stretched, and when she sneezed, she felt a spasm across her belly. Concerned but not worried Alexis took her watch with her to the bathroom to keep an eye on things.

When she felt the same spasm again fifteen minutes later she stayed sitting up in bed, rubbing her hands over her belly. By the time the third one rolled around, she shoved Shane in the shoulder. 'Shane.'

'No, too early.'

'It's one thirty and you need to wake up. Now.'

The emphasis on the single word had Shane's fatigue evaporating when he peeled back one wary eyelid, and he saw Alexis rubbing her belyl while having a staring match with her watch. 'Oh, shit! Alexis, is it time?'

'I...I think it is, I have had the same spasms consistently for nearly an hour and I haven't gassed but I don't feel gassy so...' Alexis shot out her hand as she let out a little cry. 'Oh, Shane, that felt seriously real, baby.'

'Okay, okay, here we are, here we are.'

Shane thought for sure he'd be a panicked little chicken fish when he saw Alexis in labour, and while his brain was screaming like Janet Leigh in _Psycho_ his nerves were icy calm. He went to the bureau where he and Alexis had a set of clothes all ready to go in case the moment of truth arrived in the middle of the night and dressed himself first, then helped Alexis put on the soft loose yoga pants and maternity top. 'You're doing so well my love, you are.'

'I'm freaking out, Shane, I...what if I can't do it? What if the baby gets stuck or something?'

'No one will let that happen. The body knows what to do and our doctor is one of the best in the city, so this baby is going to be just fine.'

'Okay.' Alexis looked around, grabbed her phone off the bedside table. 'Shane where's my purse? What about the hospital paperwork?'

'Your purse is by the door where we put the baby bag, your bag and my bag, and our rental car is downstairs.' That had been a god-send - the night of the poker game, the guys had given him a gift certificate for Automatic-Auto to rent a car for six weeks so that Shane and Alexis wouldn't have to worry about finding a taxi on their quiet residential street in the middle of the night. 'Just hold my hand we'll be there in no time.'

Every instinct told Shane to get his wife to the ER as quickly as possible but all the advice he'd been given by his friends had said the exact opposite - rushing meant higher risk of being in a car crunch or hurting someone else. He moved at the posted speed limit and parked in the Saint Vincent clinic's parking lot; Shane was out of the car and sprinting around the hood to open Alexis' door before she could unbuckle her seatbelt.

'Shane,' she giggled, 'relax. It's just childbirth.'

'Exactly, and you need to be looked after right away. I can steal a wheelchair, or you want to walk?'

'Walk. My back can't take much more sitting down right now.'

'Walk it is.'

Alexis closed her eyes briefly as she felt Shane take her hand, walk her inside to the medical smells she'd learned to love when working in the hospital in medical school. She opened her eyes to see the waiting room mostly empty, and it was their lucky night as they saw Honey-Milk at the in-take desk beside another nurse.

'Jenny!'

Honey-Milk looked up, and gave a little squeal that had the nurse in the chair beside her lifting out of her seat. 'Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh is it baby time?'

'We think so, but we wanna be sure before we activate the tree.'

'Of course, of course, how many weeks are you at now, honey?'

'Almost thirty-seven.'

'Then there's no worry of it being considered a preemie,' Honey-Milk reassured them, picking up the phone and dialing an extension. 'Hi, it's Nurse Ryan down in the clinic. I've got one of Doctor Bishop's patients here and she believes she's gone into labour. Right. Okay, sure thing. Thanks.'

'Good, bad?' Shane asked as their friend rounded the high-topped desk.

'The head nurse in OB, Thelma, she said that Bishop is on-call tonight and we will get out into an exam room for you to wait until he gets here and can give you an exam.'

'Sure, it...oh damn. Damn Damn damn. Shane?'

'I'm right here, my sweet little strawberry.' Shane shifted her bags on his shoulder to adjust his grip on her hand as she breathed through the pain. 'That's it, that's it, you got it baby.'

'Shane, knock it off,' Alexis said through clenched teeth then let out a gasp when she felt the release in her abdomen. 'There, now you can be super-hubby again.'

Honey-Milk showed them into the free exam room; a few moments later Alexis was laying on her back on the gurney, already changed into a paper-thin hospital gown, feet planted flat on the bed as she stared at the ceiling. Honey-Milk opened her mouth to remind the pregnant woman that the way she was laying was a good way to make her blood pressure bottom out, but Alexis beat her to it.

'Jenny, I know I'm supposed to lay on my side but my back is screaming at me and I just need a few moment of peace if this is the real deal.'

'Okay, sweetie, but if Bishop says on your side-'

'Then on my side I go.'

Alexis stayed where she was, allowing Shane to rub her feet and massage her swollen calf muscles while they waited for Bishop. She had another two contractions before his arrival, and Alexis had to grin when she saw he was wearing his Macarena-dancing stick-figure scrub cap that apparently was part of the matchign scrub top and pants.

'Well, well, Lady Doctor Weaver, let's see if you've got your little medical student on the way.'

Bishop pulled on gloves, checked Alexis' abdomen and vaginal walls before pulling his hands away and stripping off his gloves. 'Sorry, kids. Looks like the turkey needs a little more time to roast.'

'No baby?' Alexis asked in a plaintive voice.

'Not tonight. But you are about sixty percent effaced so things are moving along. In the meantime go home and get some rest.'

Bishop left, and Alexis looked at Shane. 'Sorry baby. Looks like another false alarm.'

'That's okay. The next one might not be.'


	82. Heated Moments: 38 Weeks, 5 Days

_Hello All! So sorry I haven't updated in the last couple of days but I've spent the last week adjusting to my new job! WOOHOO! Now that I'm done with the other night job, at least for now, the updates will be back to their usual thing. Enjoy the hotness!_

* * *

'Doctor Weaver!'

Shane poked his head around his open locker door, gritting his teeth. He was dog tired and he just wanted to go home to his wife but he would have to wait until Pearlmutter was out of his hair, now. 'Yes, sir.'

'Glad I caught you. We need you to go to Atlanta with samples for the CDC.'

Shane sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping. 'Sir, you understand that my wife is like a thousand weeks pregnant and any tiem my phone rings I assume she's calling me to tell me she's gone into labour, right? I can't just get on a flight and go to Atlanta.'

'You can and you will. This patient is under your purview and those samples must be retrieved by yourself so as not to break the chain of evidence. On top of which, you're the one who made the call anyways. The department has arranged for you to be on the two-pm flight to Atlanta and return tomorrow on the six-pm flight.'

Fuck, was the only thing Shane could think. There was no getting out of this one, none at all. Shane's mind wasn't even on the fact that the corpse he'd examined this morning might have been a carrier of a potentially harmful outbreak of super-flu that would have everyone in a major population like New York City losing their shit at the slightest cough. The only thing he could think was he might miss being there for his wife going into labour with their first child. Alexis needed him, no question, but Shane had to be there. He just had to be there.

'Do you have the tickets?'

'They'll be at the West-Jet counter at LaGuardia for pick at one-thirty.'

Shane looked at his watch. 'Sir it's eleven am now, how am I-'

'Go home, pack, be ready to leave at one-pm.'

He sighed; when Pearlmutter sounded like that, there was no way that noise coming from Pearlmutter's mouth could be refuted, so Shane did what he did best these days. He geared himself up to face his absolutely irrational wife.

* * *

'You've got to be fucking kidding me! What the fuck is wrong with Pearlmutter!'

Shane kept his eyes on Alexis as he folded clothes into his overnight duffel-bag while she sat on the bed with her arms folded over her impressive breasts; to his amazement Alexis was not directing her venom at him but at his boss. 'It's not like I'm doing this on purpose, he has a point.'

'I know, you're the ME who made the call so you have to go to keep it legit but...gah! Fuck!' Alexis pounded her fist into the pillow by her hip. 'It's just wrong! He's so unfair!'

'Alexis, sweetheart, chill out, you're gonna make the baby pissed off.'

'I am not!' Now her eyes burned a little. 'The baby is already busy enough with assuming the position for the birth, it doesn't kick at me anymore when it hears bad words because it's already preoccupied with birthday party plans.'

'Like what?'

'Like getting to see his or her daddy.'

Shane closed his eyes. 'There it is.'

'Where is what?'

'The crazy-bitch preggo hormones. I knew you weren't as cool with this as you pretend to be.'

'Fucking duh I'm not! But what's the point of getting angry at you, since short of maiming or your own murder you can't get out of this?' Alexis gave a petulant little shrug, then pouted her lips somewhere between a sexy and annoyed sulk. 'The least you could do is give me a proper goodbye.'

'Why do you think I'm rushing to pack?'

Shane winked at her and despite feeling like she might give birth at any moment, Alexis felt that sizzle from him, the same sizzle she'd felt nearly eight years before when they'd first met for tea and a chat. 'There,' he told her, setting aside the duffel, 'now we have a little time for us. You want a hand getting naked?'

'Sure.'

'Here we go.'

Shane pulled her to her feet, helped her out of her clothes, smiling as she laid down on her side naked before he stripped off himself. 'Alexis, you are so sexy.'

'I'm huge.'

'With our baby, which didn't get put there by magic,' he reminded her, nipping her earlobe as he spooned her, grinding his hips against her. 'It got put there because you are irresistible to me, just like I am irresistible to you.'

Alexis closed her eyes, sighed in pleasure as she felt his hand move around her body to cup her breast; he massaged her gently, circling her stiffened nipple with his fingertip. 'Oh God Shane, that feels so good,' she told him on a laughing sigh. 'Oh, it makes me feel human again. But...'

'But?'

'I just...I want it to be hot, and just a little dirty. I wanna...I don't know how to say it, I just wanna.'

'Just wanna...' Shane repeated, then whispered in her ear, 'Just want me to fuck you senseless?'

'Yes.' Alexis felt the thrill of her husband telling her he wanted her so basely with her being nine months pregnant slip through her veins like warm whiskey. 'Yes, Shane, exactly that.'

'You got it. Here, get on top of me, sweetheart.'

Shane shifted so he was lying on his back, hands on Alexis' widen hips to guide her where she needed to be, and he found that sweet spot between her thighs, the centre of pleasure for his wife. He began to lap at her, stroking his palms up and down her creamy white thighs as he heard her groan and moan for him. The sounds she made had him hardening to iron and when he her her fingernails scratch at the headboard as she began to come. Shane kept his pace strong, only slowing when he felt her hands slip softly over his head, then lean back to test his own readiness.

'Shane?'

He put his hands to her hips to move her to the side only momentarily, then scooted himself up so his back was propped against the headboard. 'Here, my love. If you're on top, it's easier for you.'

'Oh yeah, it is,' Alexis agreed breathily, loving how he was so precious with her. 'Guess I've gotten a lot better at being on top, huh?'

'You've always been good on top,' Shane reminded her as he felt her take him in; because she was so close to the end of pregnancy he kept his hands on her hips to keep her still while he thrust inside her. Shane loved the way she kept her eyes on his, those beautiful blue eyes. 'Lex, you feel so sweet, so good.'

'It feels so good, Shane, don't stop my love.' Alexis let herself fall forward as much as she could, laying her lips on her husband shoulder and she felt his orgasm flood through his body as her own began to flow through her system. If he had to leave, this was a great way to say goodbye.


	83. Stresses

The Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta was hot, stuffy and most importantly in Shane's mind, far far away from his beautiful bride who was soon to give birth. If he'd thought his nerves were shot before, they were cake compared to the hell of being how many state lines away from Alexis and getting that call.

He tugged at his shirt collar, sighed as he looked at the pathologist standing beside him. Of course he had to be saddled with Doctor Tabatha Campbell, a stunning brunette who was all Southern drawl and not-so-subtle plunging neckline to show off what surely had to be the work of her plastic surgeon. It was bad enough they'd been stuck waiting until nearly eight that night to use the equipment - it meant they pretty much had the place to themselves and Shane knew the ideas Tabatha was getting, sending off the kind of signals she was. Worse, the woman used the same shampoo as Alexis did and it was driving Shane crazy.

'Guess you're not used to this kind of wet heat, huh?' Tabatha ask him, flicking an eyebrow. 'Italy's a little different than Atlanta.'

'Italy?'

'Dark eyes, dark hair, golden complexion of the gods. I'm guessing somewhere around Naples?'

Shane wasn't an idiot, he knew what Doctor Campbell was up to. He was just there to get comparisons done and get the fuck outta Dodge. 'Not even close. How is our sample coming?'

'Should be just about...' Tabatha held up a finger as she heard the tinny buzz of the machine. 'Go to go.'

'Hold that thought.' Shane fished his phone from his pocket, felt a zip of panic when he saw Alexis' name on the display. 'Alexis, baby, are you okay?'

'Yes, I am, I just wanted to tell you that Adam and Zane are spending the night with me while Lindsay was at her brother's concert at Julliard tonight so if you called home and a man answered, it's my big bad guard-cop.'

'Fair enough. You drink your milk course, Daddy, not to worry. It doesn't feel like anything is gonna happen between now and tomorrow when you're home.'

'Infamous last words. I gotta go, almost time to find out if Manhattan will be embroiled in an epidemic. I love you, my sweet sweet strawberry.'

'I love you two my sweet, sweet...um...blackberry?'

'How about apple dumpling? The Dutch love their apples.'

'Okay,' Alexis laughed. 'Gotta go, almost dinner time. Adam made Lindsay's recipe for pirogi.'

'Jealous now. Bye-bye.'

Shane hung up, then gave Tabatha a proud smile. 'My wife is about to go into labour any day.'

'Oh, you poor man, I'm so sorry,' she laughed; Shane could hear the subtext underneath it loud and clear.

'It's been a trial a time or two but she looks so beautiful. What's the verdict?'

'You can't rush genius.'

Tabatha aimed her nose down the microscope, inspected the samples Shane had brought against the control. 'Well, survey says it's not players in today's bioterrorist's arsenal, and given the virus' mutation its flight path indicates it's not airborne or skin-to-skin transfer. I'll need to run a few more tests tomorrow but you can report to your boss it's not the worst-case-scenario. So.'

She spun her chair, stripped off her gloves. 'Go call your boss in Manhattan and then we'll get out of here for some fun.'

'If it's all the same to you, I rather go to my hotel room.'

'Even better.' Tabatha's eyes glittered and Shane knew it was time to draw the line.

'Doctor Campbell, that was not an invitation. I'm a happily married man.'

'So? Who's going to know?'

'Who does or doesn't know is irrelevant because you need to fuck off and act like a professional instead of trying to pick me up. You just heard me get off the phone with my very pregnant wife, right?'

'Exactly.' Tabatha took a slow step towards him, and though every muscle in Shane's body wanted to retreat, he knew it would only encourage this single-minded huntress. 'A man with a wife like that must be starved for...fun.'

'The only person I'm having that kind of fun with is my wife. You need to give me the report for my files and seriously listen to me when I tell you.' He paused, emphasising his words. 'Get. The. Fuck. Away. From. Me. Now.'

Shane gave her a lethal stare, the same one he'd used on Ryan and Esposito when they'd more or less accused him of just treating Alexis as a piece of ass when their relationship had been found out by their friends. He saw the bafflement on Tabatha's face, followed by light amusement.

'Seriously? You're turning down a guilt-free, no-strings-attached night with this-' she pointed to her body '-because you've got some whale in Manhattan expecting you to be a good boy who heels to his mistress?'

'A real man doesn't fuck around on the love of his life. The first year of my relationship with Alexis was mostly spent apart from her and I never strayed once, and neither did she. What makes you think after eight years together I'd change that?' Shane held out his hand, his expression stony. 'The report.'

'Fine.'

Tabatha stomped over to the printer, all but flung the freshly pressed pags at him. 'Don't come begging to me in an hour when you're so horny you're regretting turning me down.'

'You're not Alexis,' he said simply, then turned on his heel and left.

* * *

'Sir, are you okay?'

Shane looked up at the stewardess who was smiling with friendly apprehension. 'I'm just anxious to get home. My wife is about to have our first baby and I'm scared to death she might have called me while we were in the air.'

'I understand sir, it-'

'Plus having some bimbo throw her self at me and not understanding fidelity isn't a grey area with me didn't help either.'

'Again, I understand sir.' The stewardess winked at him. 'Flight attendants get the same kind of reputation that we just can't say no or take it for an answer. I'll make sure you get out of her as soon as possible.'

'Thank you.'

The wait to get off the plane was agony, and Shane had horrible visions of meeting a friend or family member at Arrivals telling him they were on their way to the hospital. But his worrying was all for naught when he saw Beckett, Alexis, RJ and Jojo waiting for him with big smiles. He let his duffel drop to his feet and he held Alexis close; he'd told her the whole story and she'd laughed it off much to his relief. Much like Esposito after the Victor Hammond case, though, Shane knew he wouldn't be able to feel quite right until he had her in his arms.

'Oh, hello my chick-magnet,' she giggled.

'It's good to be home, my love.'


	84. Beginnings: 40 Weeks, 3 Days

'When will they be here?'

'In twenty minutes, why?'

'I wanna take a shower, I feel icky and weird and flabby today.'

Shane looked over, saw Alexis doing her adorable pout-face that usually accompanied her stomping around the apartment trying to find somewhere to be comfortable. 'You look beautiful,' he told her, and not just to make her feel better. Perhaps it was the late afternoon lighting coming through the windows that gave her skin such a beautiful translucent quality, or maybe there was something in the water these days that made him love her even more.

'THanks. Part of me wants to say you're full of shit, but thanks.' Alexis looked around anxiously. 'Where are our bags, just in case baby?'

'In the closet by the door, and all the paperwork is there too, and we have our baby's first over-night bag ready too.'

Alexis smiled; that had been a fun afternoon with Jojo and RJ, who had inevitably devolved into a war of words over the baby's gender once more. They'd helped her put together the baby's coming-home bag, which naturally had included the tug-of-war over the baby's onsies. In the end, they'd agreed on Tessi's design from the weekend in the Hamptons and one that Shane and Alexis had received as a gift from Lindsay and Adam. Jojo had insisted on tucking in a pair of cute pink socks; just in case she'd whispered to her sister and Alexis had left them in there to humour the young soon-to-be-auntie.

'Wouldn't it be nice if dinner got interrupted by me

'I sure hope this a preggo thing, Lex, you've never been this antsy about having them for dinner before.'

She opened her mouth to reply, then heard the buzzer of the intercom. With a serene smile at Shane, who was finishing putting the touches on the curry dish their guests had specifically requested for some odd reason. Stranger things had happened, was al she could think as Shane opened the door with a wide smile.

'Mama! Papa!'

'Oh, Scheine, shalom, how are you?' Shir folded her son into her arms to hold him close, then promptly ignored him when she saw her very pregnant daughter in law. 'Alexis, my beautiful little darling, here, sit down.'

'I'd rather stand for a moment,' Alexis replied with a smile at Shir as Chaim followed her over. 'My back has been kinking up on me and doing laps around the coffee table helps.'

'I remember when I was in labour with Scheine, I wanted to keep walking back and forth on the hospital ward floor. Drove the staff nurse just about to distraction but that was different times. I didn't even get to have my Chaim with me during the birth, it was just medical people.'

Shane blinked, unable to fathom the idea of being anywhere but glued to Alexis' side through the whole process. 'Hopefully I played nice with you, Mama.'

'You did,' Shir agreed,' a nice little seven pound two ounce dumpling. And then it was just my bad luck that I couldn't have any more after that.'

'Not your fault,' Chaim reminded her; over forty years later and his Shiri still felt the occasional pang of guilt over that. It was his job, he knew, to keep her spirits high. 'Besides, from what I am understand, there is more than enough love from young Meinheer RJ and Missy Jojo for their niece or nephew. How are you, Alexis, is my boy taking proper care of my _shani_ daughter in law?'

'Of course, Chaim.' Alexis smiled, then wrinkled her nose when she felt the little nudge from the baby. 'Yeah, we're talking about you tiny, you don't wanna get left out, huh?'

'Not a chance. Dinner smells delicious,' Shir added, knowing from the look on Alexis and Shane's faces they didn't need any additional baby chatter right now. The whole point of the dinner tonight was to feel a little normal since Bishop's last check-up, according to Shane, had said the baby was on the starting and it was just a matter of playing the waiting game now. 'It's been so long since I've had good curry.'

'When did you become a fan of curry to begin with?' Shane asked.

'Our honeymoon,' Chaim smiled, then took Alexis' arm in his, gently guiding her towards the dinner-table where he held out her chair for her. 'Back when we were married, the fashionable thing was to go to a remote little island in the Pacific. We chose Fiji and had a stopover in Thailand for two nights, and we ate enough red Thai curry to feed the entire Mossad staff twice over.'

'So I'm guessing then that because you requested that dish tonight, there must be some big news to share?'

Shane dropped his spoon back into the simmering skillet, looked at his parents who traded a knowing glance. 'mama, Papa, what's going on? What's wrong?'

'Nothing is wrong, but Alexis is right.' Chaim twined his fingers with Shir's, smiled lovingly at her. 'Tell them your news, Shir.'

'I've decided to retire, Scheine.'

'Retire? As in-'

'As in I am done with the diplomatic service for good as of January thirty-first on the Western calendar.'

Shane looked at his father, saw the absolute joy there. Chaim had been waiting for this day for nearly thirty-five years; he thought he had it rough waiting for Alexis to go into labour. 'Oh, Papa, I'm so happy for you.'

'But there's more, Scheine. Part of the reason we wanted to be here as early as we were before the baby comes is to find a house.'

'A house?'

'This is our first grandbaby and the idea of being so far away was breaking my heart,' Shir explained, as Chaim poured wine and cider, 'and with your cousin Bram mostly running the shop, we decided we're going to divide our time between here and Amsterdam. Alexis, your father has been most helpful in getting us times to see different apartments.'

'Wow.' Alexis blinked in delighted surprise. 'So I guess this is a celebration dinner, huh?'

'Of sorts,' Chaim laughed, then raised his glass. 'To beginnings. They never stop coming no matter how old you are.'

* * *

Later that night, Shane awoke when he heard the noise in the kitchen, felt in the bed beside him. This was nothing new; Alexis usually got up to pee a couple of times night, and when the baby finally got here, they'd both be doing that. Still, it was probably a good idea to get up and see what the deal was.

Yawning, scratching his belly he wandered into the kitchen as he ground the heel of his hand into his right eye to try and clear away the fog. It vanished instantly when he saw Alexis standing frozen between the kitchen table and the fridge. She was wearing one of her comfy loose nighties - and had a huge puddle on the floor between her feet. Her blue eyes were round with surprise and excitement.

'Shane,' she said in a light, slightly amazed voice, 'my water just broke.'


	85. Preparations

_Hello everyone! Are we all very excited to see the newest baby - and first grandbaby - on its way! I know I am!_

_Also I have a memo here from **dasKamel:** Don't forget to say how awesome you think a story is by leaving a review (I'm looking at two authors whose names rhyme with **Shmayababy** and **BotJana**!) That's how myboygeorge knows what to give her readers!  
_

* * *

Alexis stood in teh kitchen, staring at her husband, eyes wide as she felt her heartrate kick up. 'Shane,' she told him agian. I'm...I'm in labour. That's why I was feeling so fussy today. The baby's coming.'

'Okay, okay. What do you need me to do for you? What do you want - need - to do first?'

'Umm, I need to get into my clothes,' Alexis said slowly, 'and then we need to get the bags and then we need to get the car.'

'Right.'

'First I...' Alexis trailed off as she felt the contraction hit, She gripped the back of the chair as she breathed through it; her eyes closed and less than five seconds later she felt her man holding her hand. Somewhere in the background she heard his voice telling her she was doing great, she was just great, but nothing got through until the pain in her belly eased. 'Shane-'

'You are amazing, my love,' Shane breathed. 'What do you need me to do for you, sweetheart.'

'I need you to help me get dressed, and...and I need you to pat me dry.'

'Pat you dry?'

Alexis nodded as she came back to herself - cool-headed planning to make sure the essentials were covered before she flipped her lid. 'I feel like I peed myself three times over and I have to put on panties to go to the hospital. I need you to pat me dry.'

'You got it, my love.'

Shane held her hand as she stepped around the puddle on their kitchen floor, guided her to the bathroom where Shane grabbed a fresh clean hand-towel and dabbed it between her legs. 'That better?'

'Very. Now my clothes.'

'Right away.'

He led her into their bedroom, where he changed into his own clothes first so he wouldn't be a cliched first-time daddy and rushing to the hospital in his boxers. Once in his jeans and light jumper, Shane pulled out the ensemble Alexis had put into a drawer in case they were making this trip to the hospital in the middle of the night. It was a beautiful choice, one he knew would make her feel far less self-conscious - a flowing black and silver tunic that even with her big belly hung nearly to her knees, black knee-length yoga legs and a soft black robe. When he'd finished helping her dress, he grabbed his hairbrush to streamline her unruly red locks into a ponytail at the nape of her neck, then kissed the tip of her nose.

'Lex. We're having a baby today.'

'We sure are, but not at home.'

'No,' Shane chuckled, and watched his sweet bumpy bride waddle march as swiftly as she could to the door. He was right behind her, grabbing their bags while making sure he had his hands free to hold onto Alexis. 'Okay, sweetie, I'm just going to take the bags to the car, I want you to stay right here, I'll be right back.'

'Shane, seriously?' Alexis giggled. 'You're making sure you can give me your full attention, I know that. Abandoning me would be going out for beers and cigars when I'm pushing out the baby.'

'Right, right. Okay, luggage to the car, then we're good to go.'

Shane gave her a fierce kiss, leaving Alexis smiling as she paced the kitchen while he sprinted off downstairs. 'Papa is so excited it's time for your birthday, baby,' she murmured to the bumpy; she ran her hands over her belly which was no longer the soft but firm mound it usually was but solid as a rock. She gave a little sigh, then sucked in a breathe, anticipating another contraction; when she just let out a fart, she laughed.

'Listen, you, I really hope you don't you make me poop a lot in front of Jenny and Andrea and Daniel. Last thing I need is to be known as Stinky-Pants Weaver.'

Such was the baby's position and timing that she didn't get the usual nudge-nudge in response so Alexis just continued to walk around slowly in the apartment. It felt good to keep moving because staying still meant too much time to think about everything else. It was how Shane found her when he raced back into the apartment.

'Okay, bags are in, seat is adjusted and it has your gel-cushion, and- what are you doing?'

'The books say comfort is the most key thing during the early stages of labour, and this makes me feel comfy.'

'Well, you can be comfy with an IV of medicine at Saint Vincent's,' Shane encouraged her, hoping he didn't sound like a great big sissy despite the fact it was exactly how he felt.

'Yes, yes we need to go.'

They made it to the clinic entrance of Saint-Vincent's, as per Bishop's instructions, in one piece; Shane had deliberately made himself feel like he was moving through slow-motion molasses so that he wouldn't rush and risk hurting them. When they'd parked, made their way into the desk it appeared the gods were smiling on them already because not only was Honey-Milk manning the reception desk in the clinic but she was having a little chat with Andrea just as they walked in. Honey-Milk caught sight of them and smiled.

'Hey sweetie, you think it might be that time of-'

'Cut the shit Jenny, my water broke all over my kitchen floor,' Alexis replied; without turning a hair, Andrea disappeared and returned with a wheelchair for Alexis to sit down in.

'Oh! Oh! Yea!' Honey-Milk clapped her hands. 'I'll let the OBGYN floor know you're coming. You've got all your paperwork to get check in?'

'It's in the bag,' Shane replied, patting the duffel.

'Cool, and when should we expect the family to arrive?'

'Oh, no, we already have a system,' Shane said as they began to walk towards the elevator, Andrea quietly shoving Alexis along. 'We agreed if Alexis went into labour between midnight and six am, we call only our parents, Jim and Martha, then everyone gets a breakfast call from Kate and Rick.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, because we know that...' Alexis trailed off, leaned forward a little as another contraction hit. 'Shane?'

'I'm right here, baby, right here.'

Shane dropped the bags to the floor, knelt to be at eye level with her as he held her hand and breathed through the pain. He watched in pure awe of Alexis as she powered through it, then let out a little gasping sigh when it was done. 'There you go, got through another one.'

'Uh-huh.' Alexis gave him a wan smile. 'What were we talking about?'

'The phone tree for baby-time alerts.'

'Right, we figured the kids would all want to be here for their new friend, but waking them up in the middle of the night to sit in a hospital just seems unfair, especially since a tonne of them have school today.'

'Of course.' Honey-Milk looked at the elevator as it opened. 'I'll be up as soon as my replacement for the desk is here, sweetie. You'll be great!'


	86. Labours I

'Andrea, Bishop is here tonight right?'

Andrea smiled as she took Alexis' vitals to enter into the chart. The first-time mama-to-be was in her hospital gown now, IV attached to her wrist, and sitting on the edge of her hospital bed. 'He's delivered five babies since his shift started at six, but not to worry. He's not going to pass you off to an intern or something, he likes to look after all of his first-timers himself.'

'He's a great doctor,' Shane said, 'and he's been so good to us since Harvey...well, since he's been gone.'

'I know, and can I just say I think it is so, so sweet you're going name your little boy after him.'

Andrea grinned as Alexis groaned in impatience. 'Oh, Nurse Brick, not you too!'

'Sorry, but I'm with the kids on this one. There are more adults who think it's a girl though.'

'Like who?' Shane inquired, and Andrea held up her hand to count them off on her fingers.

'Gil, Lanie, and...was there another one? Oh, yeah, Gil, Lanie and Jeremy.'

'Three? That's it?' Shane had to laugh. 'Well, when they get here, make sure Jojo gets to sit with them so she doesn't get too much on her brother's nerves.'

'Shane?'

All Alexis had to do was speak his name in that voice and Shane was at her side. Andrea watched the parents to be support each other through it, staying back as she knew her job dictated until Alexis was ready to swing her feet up into bed and relax against the pillows she'd brought from home. 'Doctor Bishop should be in shortly to check on you. I'm on his service tonight, so I'll be around if you need me.'

Alone just the two of them now, Shane and Alexis sat together laughing lightly.

'Can't believe this day is here already. Do you remember when we had our Valentine's Day interrupted by morning sickness?'

'We didn't know that's what it was yet,' Shane reminded her.

'And you were already prepared with a back-up plan, like a good daddy should be.'

'Well, there is the little matter of you being the love of my life, you know.'

'You're the love of mine,' Alexis replied with a little sniffle, pulled Shane in for a kiss, then let out a squeak. 'Shane, we have to call our parents!'

'Yours first,' Shane decided, 'so they can get your brother and sister ready.'

'And they can tell Chaim and Shir to meet them at the loft to all go together, or to wait for Jim and Martha.'

'See? I'm not the only one who is already planning like a parent. You'll be awesome for organizing soccer practice carpools.'

'As long as we do not get a minivan, we're good.'

'Hey did you hear that Meredeth is putting her Nissan into storage so they can get a bigger car?' Shane told her, and Alexis shook her head.

'Tell me after you talk to them, okay?'

Shane nodded, then dialed the Castle loft houseline, knowing the caller-ID would come up with the hospital name. It was answered after two and a half rings by Beckett.

'Shane? You're at the hospital, is everything okay?'

'Yes, we're fine, Kate. Alexis went into labour about an hour ago.'

'Are you sure it's not a false alarm?'

'Her water broke all over the kitchen floor, so at a guess, I'd say no.' Shane had to hold the phone away from his ear as Beckett let out a shriek that could rival his own mother's.

'AAAAIII! She's having the baby! She's having the baby! Rick, you useless owner of a penis, get up! Alexis is in labour! For real!'

Shane heard Castle mumble he was already up thanks to her yelling anyways. 'Kate, listen since it's after midnight, the Breakfast-Club Plan is in place.'

'Of course, of course. What room are you in at Saint Vincent's?'

'Maternity wing, obvo, in room six-three-two-eight.'

'We'll see you soon. Are you going to call Chaim and Shir, Shane?'

'Yeah, I will, but I'm sending them to your place first so that you can all be here together.' Shane paused, so his voice wouldn't crack while he said what had suddenly occurred. 'I have to tell them myself I'm about to be a father.'

'Ohh, Shane, shit don't make me cry, I need to save it up for when that little baby boy is here.'

'Kate-'

'I know, I know, we'll see you soon.'

Shane hung up the phone, then released the button to dial his parents number. This time he only made it to half a ring before his father's voice was on the line.

'Scheine, it is time for the baby?'

'Yes, Papa, it-'

'Shiri! Up up up! We're going to be grandparents!'

Much like the conversation between Beckett and Castle, Shane listened to his mother sigh at having her sleep disturbed until she was fully aware of the reason why she was being woken. He heard her say she had their baby-waiting bags ready so she just needed her clothes. 'Papa, listen to me-'

'Yes Scheine.'

God he was just like RJ and Jojo, he thought on a laugh. 'I just got off the phone with Kate and Rick, I told them for you to all come together so they-'

'Not a problem we will meet them at the loft. Tell your beautiful shiksa _shani_ bride everything will be just fine and we'll see her soon. We love you, Scheine and Alexis!'

'Love you too, Papa.'

Shane hung up the phone, then took Alexis' hand in his. 'The family is on its way.'

'Good, and thanks for not asking if I wanted to talk to any of them. I'd have been too much of a mess and I need to save my energy for...oh, oh, oh. Oh, another one.'

'Okay, sweetie, okay.

Shane sat down, pulled up his chair to be right by his wife as she breathed through the contraction; her eyes were closed, not clumped shut though, and the way her fingers flex against his palm was no stronger than what it was an hour ago. Such was his focus with his Alexis was he only registered the presence of Bishop there once he had kissed Alexis' brow and told her he'd never been prouder of her in his life.

'Doctor Bishop.'

'Doctor Weaver, and Lady Doctor Weaver, good evening. It seems our little medical student is going to have a birthday, yes?' Bishop smiled. 'When should we be expecting the gypsy camp?'

'Gypsy camp, sir?'

'Yes,' he replied with a twinkle in his eye. 'Jim Harvey told me that whenever there's a baby in your family on its way, you set up shop in the lounge like you're waiting in line for Silver Bullet concert tickets. Not to worry, I've been informed by Nurse Ryan she's got something ready for the little kids while they wait for their new friend.'


	87. Labours II

After Bishop had left with his assessment that Alexis was at two centimetres already, the Weavers did not have long to wait before they saw their family; it felt like he'd barely left before they found themselves invaded. Chaim and Shir were first through the door, each of them holding hands with RJ and Jojo respectively, followed in by Beckett and Castle.

'Alexis! Shane!' RJ sprinted forward, hugging them before giving his sister's tummy a gentle rub. 'It's your baby's birthday! Hooray!'

'That means I'm going to win the baby-guessing pool!' Jojo smiled sleepily, and Shane then noticed the kids were still in their pyjamas. Jojo was wearing bright green satin pants and a matching top with embroidered caterpillars while RJ had on black sweat pants and a long-sleeved grey t-shirt with orange writing on the chest that read 'Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice'.

'Does it, bumblebee?' Alexis smiled at her as she felt Jojo's little butterfly-light kiss on her cheek.

'Uh-huh, RJ said that...thaaaaaat-' Jojo interrupted herself with a big yawn '-it's like at New Year's Eve, it is after midnight so that means it is the next day, and I guessed that the baby would come on September the eighteen and it would be a little girl.'

'Well, we still have time before the baby is actually here, so why don't you two go rest with my parents in the lounge,' Shane suggested, and RJ firmly shook his head.

'No, we are not missing out on our nephew's almost-birthday time. Here.'

'What's this?' Alexis laughed as she took the bag from her brother.

'Just a little something from me and Jojo. Open it!'

Unwilling to disappoint the soon-to-be uncle, Alexis took out the packaged wrapped in happy-face paper and tore through to find a little white onsie with the words 'What a Weaver!' printed in neon green. 'This is perfect, you guys! It is always great to have...oh...oh no, Shane.'

'Visiting time is done for you for now,' Beckett informed her children, who were both staring goggle-eyed at Alexis as she began to pant her way through another contraction. Without another word, RJ grabbed Jojo's hand and tugged her towards the door.

'Mumum, we don't need to see that part of the baby's birthday,' he called over his shoulder, 'we'll wait for you outside the door.'

Once the children were gone, the grand-parents to be on both sides waited with held breath as they watched their children get through Alexis' contraction as a team; the beauty of the look on Shane's face as he murmured encouragingly to Alexis, then brushed back a strand of loose red hair from her temple made Castle choke up. They were, first and last, as they'd been from the start, a perfect fit for each other. Kind and steady Shane, pragmatic yet dreamy Alexis, about to embark on one of the most rewarding experiences they could share together.

He must have given a little hiccup, because he felt Chaim's slender hand on his sutrdy shoulder, and the thickly accented voice whispering to him, 'It is alright, soon-to-be grandpapa. Plenty of babies are born around the world all the time, and many are not so luck-ful as to be in love as our babies are.'

'Thanks, Chaim.'

'I'm going to step out to see RJ and Jojo and make sure they are behaving.'

Castle nodded, and was tempted to follow him out when he heard Alexis give a little sigh, just like Beckett had when she'd been in labour with RJ and Jojo; instead he moved closer on her right-hand sided and squeezed her as best as he could in a hug.

'Sweetie, I'm so proud of you.'

'Really?'

'Of course, Alexis, you've...' Castle trailed off as his tears filled up in his eyes. 'You've always made me proud, honey.'

'Oh, Daddy.'

Alexis returned his watery smile, then blinked in shock when she saw her mother actually break downtown into sobs. 'Mom?'

'Alexis, I...thank you.'

'For what?'

'For just being you and...and letting me be your mom. I love you so much, baby girl.'

That did it for Alexis and there were tears all around including Shane and Shir, the latter of whom dotted at her eyes with a white linen handkerchief. 'You...you are the best mom in the world,' Alexis warbled, 'and I love you right back.'

'Well, at this rate I think the baby will be born with a water-birth,' Shir laughed, hoping to bring them out of the wash of tears.

'That is just weird, Mama,' Shane replied, 'Alexis is not a dolphin at Sea-World.'

'Yeah, and- oo!'

Shane's weeping dried right up when he heard Alexis' little squeak of pain. It was too soon for another contraction at this stage; his red-alert-Alexis buzzer was starting to sound. 'Sweetie, what is it?'

'Something feels...not right.'

'I'll get the doctor,' Shir said right away, and left so that Alexis had her own parents with her.

'Not right, Lex?' Shane asked, scannign her body with darting eyes. 'Like pinching or pain or bloating or what?'

'I can't explain it, just...not right.'

Just a few seconds later, Shir returned with Daniel Brick following behind her. 'This young man said he was on his way in here anyways, he looks like someone in charge,' she informed them, making Shane chuckle; he didn't realize how badly he needed it already.

'Daniel, whatcha got there?'

'Drugs!' he replied cheerful, then brushed a gentle hand over Alexis' belly after setting down the tray. 'Shane's mama told me you're feeling a little pinchy?'

'Yeah, it didn't feel like a contraction, either.'

'Alright, well, I can page my wife, get her to come in and do a sonogram.'

'That'd be good,' Alexis said, Shane nodding along with her.

'I'm sorry, who are you?' Shir inquired, her expression one that had made hardened international criminals cry uncle. 'What qualifications do you have to look after my daughter-in-law, and who is your wife?'

'Mama-'

'My wife is Nurse Andrea Brick, she is an RN here with principle training in trauma and fellowships in pre- and neonatal care. She is a member of Doctor Bishop's delivery team, as am I.'

'And what do you do, exactly?'

'I'm a nurse anesthetist, I've worked in this position for nearly nine years now, and of all nineteen children born in our family, the only ones whose births I didn't preside over were Rosie, Kelley and Duncan because they were born at different hospitals.'

Shir pursed her lips, nodded briskly. 'Very well, then. Carry on and make sure that my children get nothing but the best.'

'Thank you, Missus Weaver.' Daniel moved closer, fixed the IV to Alexis' hand. 'Andrea's on her way already, Doctor Bishop asked her to bring down a sonogram to make sure it's all on the level.'

'Great,' Alexis smiled. 'You think there's anything to worry about?'

'If there is, you can be damn sure Bishop will be sure everything is fixed right up.'


	88. Complications I

As the time ticked on, Shane could feel Alexis excitement rising but more troubling, he could feel her stress level rising too. Despite the drugs Daniel had administered, she was clearly trying to keep the fact she was hurting under wraps.

'Alexis, sweethear,t this isn't a time to be a stoic little soldier,' Shane reminded her as they took a walk down the hallway towards the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked a peaceful little courtyard. 'If you're in pain, tell me or Daniel or Bishop.'

'Daniel said that Bishop recommended I not have a high dose of pain-killers just yet because I want to walk around,' Alexis replied, her fingers flexing on his bicep.

'Well, the way your fingernails are digging into my arm says otherwise. Come on, back we go.'

He turned them around and when Alexis cried out, he had to use more effort than he thought because he felt her weight begin to buckle. 'Okay, that's it, we are going back to bed and I'm getting someone to page Bishop.'

When Shane received no protest from Alexis, he knew it was time to stop letting her run the show. She needed him to be her big strong badass doctor, and Shane was not going to let her down. The moment she was back in bed, and starting to curl protectively into a ball around her belly, Shane marched straight to the nurse's desk to find Andrea there.

'Andrea, I need you to page Bishop straight away,' he implored her with just a hint of command in his tone. 'Alexis is in pain, and not in a normal labour kind of way.'

'Okay, I'll come check on her.'

'Then you'll page Bishop?'

'Of course.' Andrea was no stranger to dealing with nervous parents-to-be but there was something about seeing Shane with that look on his face that told her this wasn't just the usual freaking out of seeing his wife in labour. She headed into Alexis' room, and with one look at her friend, she was in full nurse-in-charge mode; she went straight to the phone on the table and dialed the intercom. 'Doctor Bishop to OBGYN six-three-two-eight.'

'Andrea, it doesn't feel right,' Alexis told her with a little whimper in her voice.

'Not to worry, my darling, we are here to make sure you and the baby are safe and healthy.'

'Shane?'

'Right here, my sweet strawberry.' Shane took her hand, threaded his fingers through hers. 'I'm not going anywhere.'

When Bishop whipped into the room, he gave his patient the once-over visually in all of three seconds and said briskly to Andrea, 'Nurse Brick, we need an ultrasound in here, now.'

'Yes sir.'

Andrea turned, left while Bishop moved over to speak with Alexis. 'Alexis, sweetheart, I need you to lay on your back so I can listen to the baby's heartbeat.'

'Okay, okay.'

Alexis shifted with Shane's help, and Shane nearly let out a cry when he saw the stricken look in her eyes. Bishop lifted her gown to move his stethoscope over her swollen belly, nodded sternly.

'The heartbeat is good and strong, so we're going to do an ultrasound to see what's going on.'

Andrea reappeared with the machine, plugged it in. When Alexis let out a little whimpering moan, she brushed her hand over her brow. 'Alexis, sweetie, I know, I know it's scary but we are going to help you, okay?'

'Okay.'

Andrea let Bishop take over the controls and he moved the wand carefully over her abdomen. He studied the screen with his solemn eyes, and with each blink Shane felt one more nerve slip from his control. They'd done everything right, was all he could think, they'd done everything exactly right, there was no reason for Alexis to have any complications now.

Bishop pressed a few buttons, then scribbled on his prescription pad which he tore off and passed to Andrea. 'Tell the pharmacy to red-line that scrip, Nurse Brick.'

'Yes sir.'

When she'd disappeared, Bishop looked directly at Alexis, then at Shane. 'The cord is around the baby's neck.'

'Oh, God.' Alexis felt her heart begin to beat quicker, making the monitors beep erratically. 'Oh, God, is it okay?'

'The baby is fine, the heart beat is good and strong, but we need to keep an extra close watch right now so no more wandering.'

'Of course.'

'We're going to give you a muscle relaxant so we can ease your contractions and that will keep the cord loose. There is the possibility the baby will-'

'No!' Now Alexis cried out in utter panic. 'No, don't you say that to me, you fucker!'

'Alexis,' Bishop replied smoothly, 'All I was going to say was there is the possibility that we will need to do a c-section to untangle the baby.'

'Is there another way?' Shane asked. 'Alexis doesn't want surgery unless there is another safe alternative.'

'Right now, we have to play it by ear so for now the plan is to proceed with a push birth unless it becomes unsafe for you or the baby. Shane may I speak with you in the hallway?'

Shane kissed Alexis' hand, then her brow. 'I'll be right here, sweetie.'

He left for the hallway, and though it was less than eight feet away, it felt like a galaxy as he watched Bishop cross his arms in front of his chest.

'Shane,' the doctor told him gently. 'There is the possibility the baby won't untangle, in which case we will have no choice but to go ahead with an emergency c-section. I need you to be prepared for that possibility, as Alexis is going to be very frightened.'

'What means probably? She's already there, Doctor,' Shane pointed out, then let out a short breath. 'Doctor Bishop, Alexis is my heart and soul, and if something happens to her or the baby-'

'I won't let that happen. You are going to leave here with a healthy wife and healthy baby in a few days time.'

'You give me your word?'

'I swear on James Harvey's soul.'

'That's good enough for me.' Shane went back into the room with Alexis, who had begun to weep. Instantly he was at her side, brushing his fingertips gently over her cheeks. 'Lex-'

'I'm so sorry Shane,' she sobbed, 'I should have-'

'Alexis, there is nothing you could have done to prevent this, but we are not going anywhere except the delivery room tonight, you hear me?' He brushed his trembling hand over her silk red hair. 'Everything will be fine.'

'But what if-'

'No. We are not going there. We are staying positive, or at the very least, we're not thinking negative things.'

'I'm scared,' she told him in a small voice. 'I'm so scared, Shane.'

'I know, my love. I'm scared too, but our baby will be just fine.'

When Andrea came back in with the bag of IV drugs for Alexis, she swallowed tightly as she saw them together and sent up a silent prayer everything really would be okay.


	89. Bright Sides

While Shane and Alexis coped with the sudden complication, the grand-parents to-be waited rather impatiently in the lounge. It was still about fifteen minutes shy of six in the morning which meant no phone tree activations just yet, so Beckett and Castle had only each other for company; RJ and Jojo were sleeping while Chaim and Shir checked the news overseas. It was a little weird compared to the other baby experiences they'd sat through like this, but it was Shane and Alexis' decision to activate the phone tree after six in the morning in case they had a late night labour start.

As Beckett flipped listlessly through a surprisingly up-to-date magazine, she heard Castle sigh beside her, looked over. 'Something wrong, Big Daddy?'

'Just can't believe my little girl - our little girl - is going to be a mother,' he replied with a trace of wistfulness. 'I remember the night she was born, she...she was so small, this perfect little bundle of redheaded joy.'

'She had red hair when she was born?'

'Oh yeah,' Castle laughed. 'She had this fine fuzzy red fluff, like she'd rubbed her little noggin on a lint trap. And she was so noisy, this gorgeous little wailer. I used to play Bob Marley records for her to calm her down because she was so colicky.'

'I can only imagine what that was like for a twenty-three year old,' Beckett murmured, 'and being a single parent by twenty-five.'

'We had some rough bumps at first, but-'

'Mumum?'

Beckett looked over, saw Jojo had sat up from her napping spot on the couch looking more than a little bleary-eyed. 'Hey bumblebee, why don't you go back to bed?'

'Can't. Too e'cited.' Jojo smacked her lips together, sighed a little. 'I'm sleepy.'

'You should be, this is the same time Mumum gets up for work usually.'

'Ohhhhhhhh.' The little girl yawned widely, wandered close for a hug. 'When will the baby be here? Soon?'

'Soon, we hope. Babies like to take their time.'

'Miss Mer'deth says Tessi was a pokey-pants, the twins were early birds and Max Pow...Powwwwww-' another yawn got the better of her '-Power was right on time.'

'That's right, sweetie.'

'Was I a slow-poke, Mumum?'

'No, that was RJ, he was a whole nine days late for his birthday.'

'I can hear you.'

Jojo looked over, saw her brother shoving himself up off the sofa with a groan. 'And I wasn't late, I was on time,' he added with a little huff. 'When will Alexis' little boy be here.'

'RJ-'

'No, bro,' Jojo told him with a shake of her head, 'it is too...tooooooooo early for that.'

'Exactly,' Castle agreed. 'Why don't you two try to get some sleep.'

Before either of the children could reply, Andrea came into the room, eyes serious. 'Rick, Kate, can I speak with you in private a moment?'

'Andrea! Did Alexis have the baby?' Jojo brightened at the sight of her mother's friend. 'Can we visit?'

'No, Jojo, the baby isn't here yet, I'm sorry. I need to talk to your mama and daddy a moment.'

Sensing something was up, something serious, Castle and Beckett went into the hallway with Andrea, the former asking, 'What's going on?'

'Alexis had some pain so we, Bishop and I, did an ultrasound and the cord is around the baby's neck. There is a possibility the cord won't untangle and we, that is Bishop and his team, we'll have to do an emergency C-section to make sure that mother and baby are safe. Har...Bishop has asked me to keep you updated.'

Castle nodded, letting her little slip of the tongue go; it wasn't just the parents of the children Jim Harvey had delivered who missed him too. 'Of course.'

'I thought it might go easier for RJ and Jojo to hear it from you guys than me.'

'Yeah, I think you're right Andrea.'

'Thank you,' Beckett added as a coldness crept into her stomach. She waited until Andrea was down the hall before turning to Castle. 'She'll be fine, Rick. They're great doctors here, and Andrea and Daniel were both right there when RJ and Jojo was born.'

'But this is Alexis, this is my little girl.'

She heard Castle's voice hitch, then put her hands on his cheeks. 'Go down to the men's room for a moment, okay? We can't lose it if Shane needs us, so lose it somewhere he won't see.'

Castle said nothing, just walked down the hallway and Beckett went back into the lounge where she saw that Chaim and Shir were awake now too. 'Kate, what is the matter?' Chaim asked her immediately.

'Mumum?' RJ looked at his mother.

'There is a complication with the baby and Alexis might need a C-section so nothing bad happens to Alexis or the baby.'

'That's all?'

RJ looked at his sister. 'What do you mean that's all? Do you know what a C-section is, even, Jojo?'

'It means an operation and those are sometimes scary,' she admitted, 'but lotsa our fuh-fuuuuuuh...friends were born like that! Rosie and Kelley and Mally and Finn all had a birthday that way, didn't they mama?'

'They sure did.'

'So, see big bro worrywart?' Jojo told her brother. 'Our big sister and our bro-in-law and our little baby will be just okey-dokey, artichokey!'

'Kate.' Shir's eyes were solemn. 'Is that true? Is there a chance Alexis will need an operation?'

Before the woman could respond, Jojo sidled over to Shir and to Shir's amazement, Jojo gently took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. 'Don't you worry, Give-It Shir. The doctor who is taking care of Alexis and the baby, he was nice Doctor Harvey's best-est buddy in his life and Doctor Bishop is just like him. He takes care of babies and their mumums ev-er-y day. They will be just great.'

'Jojo, you are so wonderfully optimistic.'

'I know that word!' Despite the early hour, Jojo smiled brightly. 'An oppa-mist means I always try to see the good stuff, right?'

'That's exactly right,' Chaim replied, then patted his pockets. 'Shiri, where is my iTunes phone?'

'In your other pocket, old man.'

'Ah.'

'Who you going to call, Minor Ham?' RJ asked nervously; it was in his nature to worry and he wanted something to focus on.

'I am going to be part of the phone tree as we talked about, right Katie-Lou girl?'

'Oh the phone tree!' Beckett fished in her purse and found her phone, found her baby-phone tree dialing list. Naturally, first on her list was her own bestie. 'Lanie,' she exclaimed when she got the doctor on the phone. 'Lanie, Alexis went into labour last night around one in the morning. Bring your crew, call the next number in the phone tree and bring breakfast snacks.'

'You got it. Tell Alexis we love her and we'll see her soon. What? Oh, and Dave says we'll bring Alexis poutine for after the baby comes.'


	90. Complications II

Within the hour, the lounge was full from the Twelfth Precinct family; as promised Bishop had Honey-Milk show the children into a room where they could nap, have a little snack and there was a colouring and reading station set up for them. Beckett didn't have to go with them to know that it was her husband's way of making sure they all had what they needed since he considered his role in being at a hospital to make sure the support system was themselves supported no matter their age.

With the little ones looked after, the rest of the group stayed huddled together, trying not to let their thoughts turn negative.

'What else did Andrea tell you? Did you have a chance to talk to the doctor? What about Alexis and Shane, how are they handling things?'

'Lili, all I know is what Andrea told me,' Castle replied, feeling better now that he had his friends with him. He knew he was probably freaking out for no reason, like Jojo had informed him upon his return, plenty of babies were born via C-section; there was however one little flaw in that logic. None of those women were his first-born baby girl. 'Bishop is the best and he will make sure the baby is born safely and that Alexis is alright.'

'Here, Rick, eat.' Shir picked up one of the sandwiches one of the young men had brought - Esposito, she remembered him from the case they'd had together over Eli Hudek and Yassir Lewertow - and put it on a plate along with what looked like homemade hummus and pita chips. 'You'll need your calories the way you're worrying.'

'Kate.' Lanie inched forward on her chair. 'Are you telling us everything, is Alexis in trouble and you're just trying to be brave?'

'If Alexis was really in trouble, Rick wouldn't be eating and I wouldn't be sitting here like this.'

'Fair point. You also know that a C-section is a last resort, that Bishop really resents non-medically necessary surgeries for delivering babies, right?'

'Yeah, I know that too. But this is my little girl we're talking about here.'

Lanie smiled as she felt herself choke up. 'I know, baby girl.'

'I...'

Beckett trailed off when she saw Andrea come to the door. 'The mama and daddy to be want to see some friendly faces.'

'Us?' Castle asked.

'Not just yet, they want you to eat and relax and be ready to hear news of your grandchild. The Parrish-Robbinses and the Espositos and Ryan, you're on deck.'

The group followed Andrea down the hall; as they approached the room, a thought occurred to Lanie. 'Hey, where are Sloan and Lindsay?'

'Sloan was in Boston for a photo shoot, Jeremy and the boys were with her and they're on their way back right now. Lindsay and Adam left this afternoon for their anniversary for the River Valley Inn,' Lanie explained. 'They were both on my phone tree list, and when I called Sloan, she said Alexis had texted her in the car since she was working late into the night, and Sloan called Adam and Lindsay, so they'll be here.'

'Okay guys, now remember, Alexis and Shane are both on edge a little more than regular first-time parents because of the complications with the cord,' Andrea reminded them. 'If either of them snap it-'

'Andrea, it's okay.' Ryan put his hand on her shoulder, felt the tense muscles there. 'You're allowed to be worried for your friend too.'

'Right now, she needs me to be strong. I can cry on Daniel's shoulder, then bang him for feel-better sex.'

It broke the thread of tension and they were all laughing and smiling as they entered the room; it was a good thing too as they saw the paler-than-normal Alexis laying on her side in bed with Shane holding her hand as she panted her way through another contraction. The look on her face was one that had Meredeth and Lanie's protective instincts kicking in, while the men wanted nothing more than to give Shane a little break for some fresh air.

When the contraction eased off, judging from the beeps of the machines, Alexis' eyes flicked over and saw them; she smiled at the visitors. 'Hey, when did you get here?'

'We've been keeping the Castles and the Weavers company in the lounge.' Meredeth smiled maternally as she came over, gave Alexis' foot a gentle rub. 'How are you feeling, darling? Your folks told us what's going on.'

'It's scary, but I think I'm doing okay, I mean...' Alexis trailed off with a little smile. 'I've never done this before.'

'You're doing so great, just awesome my love,' Shane told her with a grin. 'I'm so proud of you.'

'Aw, thanks baby, I- oh!'

'Another pain?' Shane asked her, and Alexis nodded.

'Yeah, it's- oh!' She winced again, and this time let out a little moan. 'Oh, Shane this isn't right, this isn't...no, it's not right, it's not right!'

Without a word, the visitors had vacated while Andrea studied her patient; one look at Alexis trying to curl around her pregnant belly in unconscious protection had her making the call. Without a hesitation she picked up the intercom phone of the room and dialed the nurses station. 'Have Bishop paged to Obstetrics room six-three-two-eight, stat.'

She hung, then went over to Alexis, rubbed a hand gently over her arm. 'Lex, honey, can you roll to your back for me?'

'No! God, get this out!'

'The baby?'

'Yes! Just get it out, make sure it's okay!'

Andrea palpitated her abdomen, nodded firmly. 'Lex, I'm going to get Doctor Bishop in to see you right away.'

'Not soon enough! Shane!'

'I'm right here, baby.' He stepped into her line of view, holding out his hand to his wife as she gripped it tightly. 'Right here, Lex, I'm not going anywhere.'

The door opened and Bishop himself came in, dark eyes sombre. 'Alright, Weaver family, let's see what is happening here.'

He gave Alexis the quickest exam Shane had ever seen, pressing his fingers over her abdomen and inside her cervix. 'Nurse Brick, the ultrasound?'

Andrea dragged over the equipment; Bishop flipped on the machine to briskly give his patient a more thorough inspection. He studied the screen, pursed his lips as he turned it off before turning to Shane and Alexis.

'Andrea, we need to alert Daniel and the rest of the team Doctor Weaver will be in within ten minutes.'

'Yes sir.'

When she'd gone, the doctor turned back to the soon-to-be parents. 'The baby hasn't untangled itself and with each contraction as it descends, the cord tightens around the neck. If you try to push, Alexis, the baby will strangle itself.'

'No!' Alexis' eyes went wide as her heart almost stopped. 'No, no, no! No, please, don't let my baby be hurt! Please don't let it die!'

'I promised you, you are all going to be fine,' Bishop replied smoothly. 'We are doing a C-section straight away.'


	91. Baby Weaver Birthday

_Hey everyone! This is an extended chapter but I think the title speaks for itself! Enjoy!_

* * *

'Shane.' Alexis looked at him with pleading in her eyes as she sobbed. 'Shane, I'm so scared.'

'I know, my sweet little strawberry, but Bishop is going to make it better, they are going to take you down to surgery to get the baby out safely.'

He knew she was pretty far gone into her own world of pain, as she just nodded numbly while the orderlies unlocked her wheels and they moved out of the room. Alexis had been protesting a surgical birth right from square one; if she was accepting it without a fight, he knew things were not good.

'Shane, you need scrubs and you'll wash up with me before you go in,' Andrea told him calmly as Alexis was wheeled into the OR. 'I know you don't want to leave her side but this is a surgery and there are protocols, plus it will help you stay calm.'

'I know, Andrea, I know.'

'OKay. Here.' She passed him scrubs as they entered the scrub room. 'Get changed and we will be following them down.'

'They won't...Bishop won't do anything without me there, will he?'

'No. Daniel needs this time to get her anesthetic administered. She will be conscious but she won't be able to feel it.'

'Okay. Okay.'

Without waiting for Andrea to leave, Shane stripped off to his boxers and pulled on the scrubs with Andrea simply turning her back. He pulled his sneakers back on and nodded. 'Let's go.'

Andrea punched on the water, unaware how calming the man beside her would find the routine of washing up; Shane knew how to do this part quite well, since being a pathologist taught anyone the value of cleanliness. He watched through the glass as Bishop and Daniel and Honey-Milk moved briskly but without a dire sense of emergency, which told Shane that when he entered the room, there would be urgency without panic.

Freshly sterilized, he walked into the room where Honey-Milk was putting a sterile cap over Alexis' long hair and murmuring gently to her.

'See, he's right here, sweetheart,' she told her friend, moving back to let Shane move into place.

'Shane.'

'I'm here, Alexis, everything will be fine. You'll see.'

'Alexis, honey, I know you're scared but I need to test your anesthetic,' Daniel told her, picking up an instrument that disappeared behind the sterile curtain. 'Can you feel me doing this?'

'Nuh-uh.' Alexis shook her head, tried to take a deep breath.

'What about this?'

'Nope.'

'Can you wiggle your toes?'

Alexis closed her eyes and when Daniel saw the toes bend at the joint slightly, he nodded to Bishop. 'The patient's anesthetic is in full effect, sir.'

'Excellent. Alexis, you're going to feel some pressure, but no pain and in about ten minutes, you'll have a baby.'

'Okay.'

Shane, knowing he was still the coach, still the focus despite this turn of events, picked up Alexis' limp hand and kissed her knuckles.

'Baby, I am so proud of you,' he told her earnestly, making sure she kept her eyes glassy from painkillers on his face. 'You are going to be the best mom, Alexis.'

'You think so?'

'I know so. This is only a few minutes. Think of how much fun we are going to have showing off this little one to his or her aunt and uncle and grandparents and great grandparents.'

'All those cute outfits. Putting him or her to bed in the nursery with the stuffed animals.'

'Okay, Alexis, we're ready to make the incision to start.' Bishop's grey eyes were kind above his sterile mask. 'You'll feel pressure and tugging but you will be just fine.'

'Shane.'

'I'm right here.' Shane braced his hand against hers and watched as Bishop lowered his scalpel, then looked over at Alexis' face. 'What do you want me to bring you as your first post-baby meal?'

'Take a wild guess,' she replied through gritted teeth; Alexis was indeed feeling the pressure Bishop had mentioned.

'Fried chicken with mashed potatoes and sweet corn, and a big bowl of spinach and coleslaw. Mayo, not hte vinegar kind.'

'You bet, I- oh! Shane!'

'I'm here, my love, right here.'

Bishop watched them, then focused on Alexis' incision. 'Alexis, you are looking very healthy here, there are no other complications to the baby, so we're going to make the next incision and get the baby out.'

But Alexis barely registered his words, as all she could focus on was Shane's eyes. 'You've got flecks of gold in your eyes, baby,' she said lightly, dreamily as her mind began to separate from her body. 'Why have I never noticed that before?'

'That's the fun of being in love, every day you discover something new.'

'Oh!' Alexis clenched her eyes shut as she felt another gigantic tug and then opened them at the sound she heard.

It was the indignant wail of a newborn.

Their baby was here.

'Oh man! That's our baby!' she cried, tears coming into her eyes as much out of relief as happiness. 'Shane, it's here!'  
Shane dropped her brow to Alexis', began to weep with her. 'I'm so proud of you, Lex. I love you so much, my gorgeous goddess.'

'What is it?' She tried to lift her head to see their child, but the sterile curtain blocked her view. 'What is it?'

'Congratulations, you have a gorgeous baby girl,' Bishop replied, clamping the umbilical cord for Shane to snip. 'It's all you big daddy.'

'Daddy! That's me!' Shane said excitedly, and leaped up, dropping Alexis' hand to reach for the scissors and snip the spongy tube. 'I'm a papa and you're a mama, Alexis.'

'Mumum, Shane,' Alexis laughed. 'We have to carry on that tradition.'

'Of course we do. Oh, my god, Lex, she's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!'

'Tell me what she looks like, I can't see!'

'She's got dark hair like mine and your nose, and your ears too, and her skin is all pinky caramel, like how you look with a nice tan.'

'Here.' Bishop took the receiving blanket from Honey-Milk, loosely wrapped the baby and passed her to Shane. 'Have a cuddle, Daddy.'

The little girl, still protesting loudly and exercising her little lungs, wriggled in his arms and Shane instinctively adjusted his hold to support her head and body. 'Well hello there, beautiful,' he cooed at her. 'Hello there, you feeling okay? I know, it's so different out here than inside Mumum, huh? Why don't we go say hi to her?'

Without thinking twice Shane sat down on the stool with the baby so her little face, still scrunched up in protest, was at eye level with Alexis. 'Who's this beautiful lady, is this your mumum? It sure is, baby girl.'

'That's right, sweetie, it's Mumum, I'm so happy you're here safe and sound. Oh, Shane.'

'Hey, look at that!' Shane watched as their baby stopped her crying like Alexi had pushed a button and she was blinking her eyes in an effort to find the source of the musical, murmuring voice. 'You know who that is, don't you darling.'

'I'm so proud of you, Alexis,' Andrea said, clearly crying behind her sterile mask, 'but Shane and the baby are going with me to get her cleaned up and measured, and Daniel's going to stay here with you while Bishop gets your incision closed.'

'We need a middle name for her, Shane, but nothing we've picked out seems good enough.'

'And we agreed nothing too traditionally Hebrew since she'll have that name picked out at her bat mitzvah.'

'Right. What about...Beatrice? Isn't that one of the names of the royal family of the Netherlands?'

'It is, but that seems kinda stuffy for such a laid back cutie-pie.'

'What about...nah, that one's too stuffy too.'

'What?'

Alexis looked at Shane, then at their little girl. 'What about Cressida? Like in the Shakespearian play?'

'That's nice too, but you're right it's just not it, is it?'

Alexis looked at the baby dreamily as the painkillers' hold on her senses strengthened. 'She looks like Princess Jasmine from the Disney movie, only with blue eyes.'

'Jasmine, huh? Petra Jasmine.'

Alexis knew she'd hit a gold mine when she saw the melting-love look on her husband's face. 'Yeah?'

'That's our little girl, Lex. Petra Jasmine.'


	92. Joys: 45 Minutes Old

Despite their elastic patience, the crowd in the waiting room could sense something electric in the air - they hadn't had any news and there had been no visitors allowed since Ryan, the Espositos and the Parrish-Robbinses had returned. Beckett wanted to get up and pace but she had Jojo glued to her lap, insisting they read a story to stay occupied. She managed to sneak a peek at her watch and she saw it was almost eight in the morning.

'We should know something by now,' she murmured, and Jojo looked up at her.

'Mumum, you said babies take their time getting into the world for their birthdays. I'm sure if there was something the matter the doctors would say that to us.'

'I know sweetie, but Alexis is very special to me.'

'Of course, she is your girl, just like me. Or, almost just like me. She had a different mumum grow her for you.'

'Something like that,' Beckett laughed nervously.

'Alexis said that lots of babies have that happens sometimes,' Jojo went on, paging through the picture book with its brightly painted pages. 'Like with Devon and Jer-em-y, and TJ and Mister Dete'tive Gil. Sometimes you have to find a family, like in _Lilo and Stitch_.'

Beckett grinned, remembering her husband telling her how Alexis nearly wore out the DVD of that particular movie owing to Sitch's final speech in the movie reminding her so much of her own situation_._ She looked around at the others as the little alien's words played in her mind - _this is my family. I found it all on my own._

'Rick,' she murmured to her husband sitting beside her; she could see him trying so hard to engage in the moment, trying too hard really. 'Rick?'

'Yeah, sorry Kate. What is it?'

'We should have heard something by now.'

'Yeah,' he agreed absently, 'so why haven't we?'

'What if they had to-'

'Jenny!'

Beckett's head whipped around when she heard Ryan's voice call out to his wife. One look at the usually calm face of the honey-blonde nurse had her setting Jojo to her feet and rising from her chair. 'Jenny, what's going on.'

'I need you and your family, and Shane's parents to come with me.'

Sickness tight in her belly, Beckett's hand automatically found Castle's as they moved quietly, quickly out of the lounge and made their way to the now-empty maternity suite. Once they'd all assembled, Jojo and RJ included, Honey-Milk spoke briskly but calmly and with sympathy; she knew she was about to put cracks in them that only the sight of the baby, healthy and whole, would fix.

'The cord didn't untangle itself from the baby's neck. Bishop is performing a C-section.'

'Oh God.' Castle blew out a breath as he tried to fight his instinct to throw up in panic. 'Oh, God, is the baby okay?'

'Of course it will be, Daddy,' Jojo piped up. She turned her big sea-goddess-in-training eyes to Honey-Milk. 'Nurse Honey-Jenny, Alexis said she might a 'per-a-tion so the baby would be safe, so that is what they are doing! We don't have to be sad!'

'Jojo.' Chaim beckoned her over, scooped her up. 'There might be something wrong with the baby.'

'Nope, sorry Minor Ham. I don't believe that.'

Honey-Milk and Castle both had to snicker despite the gravity of the situation; if Beckett ever wondered where Jojo got her tender heart and her stubborn streak, all she had to do was look in the mirror. Their attention was diverted when they saw RJ begin to sniffle.

'Jenny, where is my sister? Where is my bro-in-law and where is my baby nephew?'

'Oh, RJ!'

In an instant, Jojo left Chaim's side and made everyone in the room break down when she hugged her brother, kissed his cheek before wiping the tears that had started to run down his face. 'RJ, don't be sad, everything will be just fine! You'll see! Right, Mumum?'

'Jojo...' Beckett didn't have the heart to tell her little girl that this was not a time that she could give her a straight and honest answer; how could she reassure her four-year-old daughter everything would be fine when she didn't even believe it herself? All she could think of was the last time Alexis had been pregnant, when she'd had a miscarriage at three weeks. What if something happened like that now? Oh, God, what if she lost the baby? What would that do to her world, to Shane's, their relationship?

'Mumum?'

'Sweetie, I-'

'Scheine!'

Shir's outburst had them all looking towards the door, where they saw a red-eyed Shane, looking positively strung out. Such was his expression that he could not be read at a first glance whether he came with good news or bad. They all waited with bated breath, hearts thumping so hard the sound felt like gunshots going off in Castle's ears. _Please,_ was all he could think_, please._

'You have news, son?' Chaim asked in earnest; when Shane let out a little sob, they all froze.

'It's a little girl. We have a daughter,' Shane said on a heartfelt sob, and the room exploded into joyful noise.

'A girl! A little granddaughter!' Shir cried as the tears flowed down her face without shame or notice. She pulled her son in for a hug, rocked side to side. 'Oh, a little girl, oh Scheine, I'm so...so...'

She trailed off, overcome by her emotions, leaving Shane free to hold Beckett and Castle close where like his mother the man had no worries or regrets about sobbing on his in-laws' shoulders. He felt their hands on his back, stroking and soothing his overwraught heart.

'Shane, is she okay, is Alexis okay?'

'Yeah, they're both so, so great. They, ah...they let Alexis and I have about half an hour with the baby, while they closed Alexis' incision, and now they're both getting some rest.'

'It's a little girl?' RJ asked with a watery smile - it was more than a little shattering to see the man he thought as indestructible as his own father crying this way. 'Is she pretty? Is she healthy?'

'She is seven pounds, twelve ounces, and about eighteen inches long, and she already has dark, dark red hair and dark eyes we think will stay blue, and her skin is pinky caramel, like when Alexis gets a tan at the beach,' Shane bubbled with delight to his brother-in-law. 'You want to know her name?'

'Uh-huh!'

'Her name is Petra Jasmine Weaver,' Shane replied.

'Oh, Shane,' Jojo breathed, 'that is the perfect name for your little girl.'

'Turns out you were right little bumblebee.' Shane turned to his little sister-in-law, elated as he crouched to wrap his arms around her. 'We did have a little girl waiting for her birthday.'

'I am so excited to see her! When can we visit?'

'As soon as Doctor Bishop says it's okay.'

'Okay.' Jojo tugged his hand. 'Come on, we have news to share!'


	93. New Parents I: 2 Hrs 38 Mins Old

Alexis awoke a long, windy sigh, then groaned a little at the sticky feeling inside her head. She loathed being given sleeping medication, as she always felt worse than when she'd fallen asleep.

Except for today. Today when she woke, her looked around, moving her head from side to side as much as she could as one thought and one thought only registered - _Petra_. She wanted to hold her little girl close, tell her how much she loved and how happy she was she was okay.

'Relax, Mumum, our girl is right here.'

Alexis blinked, eyes focusing on Shane - he'd appeared in the doorway with a little bassinet, Andrea, Daniel and Honey-Milk all following him in like a grinning honour guard. He gently pushed the bassinet into the room so he could pass her to Alexis; his girls, Shane thought with near-nuclear pride, his most precious gems in the world.

'I don't wanna hurt her, Shane, the anesthetic is still getting out of my system.'

'You won't hurt her,' Shane assured her in a soothing murmur, putting their daughter into her mama's arms. 'There we are, there we are.'

Alexis smiled, her eyes filling up as she studied the most gorgeous little face. She'd been so scared and so doped up during the delivery she hadn't been truly able to appreciate the beauty of her baby in its entirety. Petra had her mumum's nose, her daddy's eyelashes, the same high cheekbones of them both. Her skin was just like Shane had described it, like Alexis with a nice tan after a week at the beach, and she had a whole full head of dark hair with glints of copper and red running through.

'Hello, my sweetheart, my darling little sweetheart,' she crooned, going buttery when Petra gurgled happily, flexing long fingers as if she were waving hello. 'Oh, it's so good to see you here, I've been waiting to meet you for so long baby girl. Yes, yes I have, and Papa too.'

'You betcha my wonderful little ruby. And check out these fancy threads.' Shane gave the little yellow blanket with the navy blue number twelves dancing all over it. 'You just wait until you see your fan-club, baby girl. You have a whole herd of people your size who can't wait to see you.'

The sniffle from the doorway had them glancing over, and Alexis let out a little laugh when she saw not only Andrea and Honey-Milk weeping in joy but Daniel too. 'Oh, guys,' she started, but Daniel cut her off.

'I'm so happy she came out okay.'

'Oh, dude.' Without a second thought, Shane went over and clasped Daniel tight in his arms in a huge bear hug that nearly lifted him off the ground - no easy feat, either, considering Daniel towered a solid five inches over Shane and outweighed him by about forty pounds. 'I can't thank you enough. You want a Ferrari? My mother has connections, she can hook you up.'

'How about a nice big bros night on you instead,' Daniel teased him, then felt a little panic when Shane nodded eagerly.

'Of course, of course, it'll be Petra's first cards night, just her and her papa and the boys.'

'Dude, I-'

'Daniel.' Andrea put her hand on her husband's arm. 'Let him.'

The nurse gave a little shrug, then pointed over his shoulder. 'Can we come in for a visit?'

'No, we have to let the parents know first that visiting hours are open now. I'm more than will to be RJ's almost cried himself dry at the idea he lost out on the baby pool and Jojo is frothing at the mouth to see her niece.'

'No to the first one, and yes to the second.' Honey-Milk smiled as she felt her tears dry up a little. 'Both of them are chomping at the bit to see their newest family member.'

'We'll go fetch them out of the lounge. I'm sure the rest of the family's already gotten in their fill of grandparent jokes for Rick and Kate,' Andrea told them, looping her arm through Daniel's. 'Come on, hubby of mine, let's go find Nana and Poppy.'

Shane let them go, then all but leaped over to Alexis' bedside as she continued to murmur to Petra. 'We're gonna have visitors in a few, Mumum,' he told his wife, then just stopped as he looked at her face. 'Look at you.'

'I know, I'm such a sweaty, awful mess, huh?'

'No. No, you're not. You're the most beautiful sight I've ever seen in my life.'

'Oh Shane.' Alexis didn't bother hiding her tears. 'I love you so much. I'm so proud of you.'

'Of me?'

'Yes. You are my superhero, and I love you so much.'

'I love you more,' Shane told her, touching his lips lightly to hers, feeling the same zip as when they'd first kissed on a snowy December night nearly eight years before. 'I love you more and more each day.'

'I love you more and more right back.'

As if to break up the who-loves-who contest Petra gurgled once more, fluttered her dark eyes open; they darted around a little before settling as Alexis began to speak once more.

'Good morning beautiful girl! Hello there, yes hello! I hope you loved your nap because there are so many people who want to visit you today! Oh- oh, Shane look!'

Shane looked at their daughter as she wrinkled up her nose a little, her cheek twitching. 'I think she's trying to smile a little. I know newborns can't really do it, because they are so new, but she really looks like she's trying huh?'

'She's a smartie.'

'Beauty and brains, just like her mumum,' Shane agreed. 'She'll be popular and pretty but not a mean girl, and she'll support equality rights, play football and be treasurer of the prom committee, and her favourite colour will be orange.'

'Wow,' Alexis laughed, then cooed at Petra, who was now tracking Shane's voice. 'What's Papa doing, is he being silly? We both know you'll be a rugby player and support equality and green rights, and you'll be in the literature and drama society at school and you will love pineapple cream soda and pizza and green grapes.'

'She says, Mumum, that's a lot of decisions to make for such a little girl, how about I just sleep on it and get back to you?'

Before Alexis coudl reply, Petra's little face began to crumple up and she began to fuss. 'Oh, no, oh no, what is that cry, is that hungry or diapers? Wait.'

She saw the baby's tiny little pink tongue poking through her lips and Alexis nodded. 'It's hungry, I recognize that face from when Jojo was a newborn.'

'Here.'

Shane held Petra close while Alexis tugged on her hospital gown to expose her breast and within a few moments mother and daughter figured it out how this breastfeeding thing would work, with the new father watching over both of his beautiful girls.


	94. Castle Ladies

'Who gets to come in first?'

'Who do you think?'

Alexis grinned as she patted baby Petra on the back, heard the little pop of her burp. Having seen so many friends go through this hadn't prepared her for her own but the lactation nurse, who'd popped for a visit just as Alexis had been switching sides, said she was an excellent first-timer so far. 'I think there are going to be a very excited auntie and uncle frothing at the mouth to see their little niece.'

'They sure are.' Shane brushed his hand gently over Petra's dark little head. 'You're okay with it that I told them her name, right?'

'Of course, sweetheart,' Alexis replied with a grin. 'We already agreed her Hebrew name stays a surprise until we have the special ceremony. It's not a briss since she's a lady, so what do we call it?'

'Some call it a Brit Ha-Hayim, others just say 'naming ceremony'. We'll have Rabbi Oliver do it, I liked him.'

'Me too.'

There was the sound of footsteps in the hallway and Shane grinned, flicked the tip of his finger lightly over Petra's little nose. 'Are you ready to be invaded and never have a quiet moment again, my sweet?'

'She says, Papa, I'm already used to noise from those guys and Mumum being such a stinky-pants!'

Shane grinned, kissed Alexis before heading for the door and grinning widely - on the other side of the door were his in-laws, all four of them along with his parents. 'Hey guys,' he said quietly, 'come on in. Petra just finished having a snack.'

'Does that mean Alexis...' RJ trailed off as they came in, blushing ruby red. 'Is she all, y'know, covered up?'

'He means boobies,' Jojo explained with the air and innocence of the younger sister. 'We don't wanna be gross and see how our baby niece gets her milk that's not from a bottle.'

'Jojo.' RJ nearly turned fuchsia, looked up at his mother. 'Mumum, make her stop.'

'Usually it's the girl asking the boy to stop being gross,' Beckett laughed, then looked to the bed where she saw Alexis sitting up in a reclined position, the little bundle in her arms still and quiet. The new mom looked exactly as she should - exhausted and deliriously happy. 'Oh, Alexis, honey, congratulations! She's so gorgeous!'

'Nicely done, baby,' Castle added, trying not to break down and sob at the sight of his baby with her own baby. He'd save that later for Beckett. 'What a beautiful little doll.'

'Mazel tov, shani,' Chaim added, mopping at his eyes with his handkerchief. 'She is just darling, and...and everything was okay even though there was a surgery?'

'Yes, Papa,' Shane assured his father, 'that was the reason for the surgery, to ensure mother and baby both stayed healthy. Bishop will be checking on Alexis at the six-hour mark, so not to worry, she and Petra are being well-taken care of.'

'Petra. What a unique name,' Shir sighed; anything stronger and her voice would have certainly cracked like a wineglass on opera night. 'How did you pick it out?'

'We figured the baby would be just as stubborn as the both of us and so we decided on Petra, feminine form of Peter.'

'How did you pick her middle name,' Jojo asked, eyes shining wide as she breathed in the smell of the baby. She loved the smell of babies, all milky and powdery and new. 'Because she looks like Princess Jasmine in the cartoons?'

'Exactly right,' Alexis told her sister. 'Who wants to hold her first?'

'Jojo goes first,' RJ replied automatically, which had everyone looking at him and he looked at them with a confident little shrug. 'She knew all along it was going to be a little girl and when everyone was so scared she might be hurt before she came out of Alexis' belly she knew everything would be okay. Jojo goes first.'

'You got any issues with that, short stack?' Shane asked her and Jojo beamed, shook her head.

'It's my job as auntie to cuddle up our wonderful Princess Petra Jasmine. That is a special moment and I am very...very...proud.'

Alexis laughed, shifted so Jojo could sit beside her. 'Hop on up, sweetie-pie.'

She watched the four-year-old climb up, snuggle in; her sea-goddess eyes went wide in excitement when Alexis gently rested the baby against her waiting arms. 'Oh, oh, Alexis I'm scared.'

'It's okay, you'll be just fine. There you go,' she reassured her little sister when she adjusted herself to hold Petra's little head and the baby gave a contented little sigh. 'There we are Petra, it's Auntie Jojo holding you now, it sure is, she was your biggest cheerleader my darling.'

'Yes I knew you were going to be a pretty little girl and you are the prettiest little girl ever ever ever.' Jojo giggled lightly. 'Oh you look just like a little bit of Alexis and Shane, and you are wonderful! Oh, Shane! Alexis! Look!'

'What is it bumblebee?' Shane asked, glancing up from where he was filming the moment to have it forever.

'I think she is trying to smile!'

'Is she?' Alexis looked over, saw Petra's cheek twitching away. 'Oh, my precious little gem! Are you smiling? Are you-'

She was cut off when the newly-minted auntie let out a gasp. 'She gassed Alexis! She did! Her bottom made a great big noise for such a little lady!'

'Maybe we should go,' RJ said, and Shane looked at his brother-in-law.

'Dude, what's up? What are you so scared of the baby?'

'I'm not afraid, but...but she's so little and I have to be the big strong uncle for her and...' RJ trailed off, gave a tired little sigh. 'I'm so tired, Shane.'

'That's okay, dude, you'll have plenty of chances to cuddle Petra.'

'And give her a bottle and read her stories too?'

'Of course.'

'Okay.' RJ came over, studied Petra's adorable little face, and gave her brow a little kiss. 'Hey it's Uncle RJ. I love you, Petra Jasmine Weaver. We can visit a little later.'

Satisfied with his promise to the baby, RJ retreated and leaned against his daddy. 'Can we have a real nap now?'

'Of course.'

'Jojo.' Castle moved to his daughters, the youngest of whom was now crooning to the baby some unknown lullabye. 'We can have plenty of time to visit but I think your sister and your niece need some nap-time too.'

'Oh sure-sure, Daddy. She had to have an op'ration for Princess Petra Jasmine to have a birthday today so she needs her tummy to get all better. Here, Alexis.'

Jojo held out her arms for Alexis to take the baby back and grinned. 'We can have a Castle-girls night very soon, I promise. Just you and me and your mama and your omi. The Fab Four, all together.'

'Who are the Fab Four, Jojo?' Shane asked with a smile.

'The best four of anything! And we're the four best Castle ladies!'


	95. Worshipers

_Hello strangers! Trust me I haven't forgotten you, but you will know exactly what I've been up to if you know what happens in November! That's right! For those who had to ask - it's NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month, so I've been giving that particular project its due attention. But trust me, this ch has been worth the wait bc it is chock full of cute!_

* * *

The visit from the grandparents turned out to be merely the first wave of worshipers of little Petra. An hour or so after the Castle-Weaver clan had made its exit, the next on the docket were the Parrish-Robbinses along with the Ryans and Espositos. Or more specifically, the pint-sized Parrish-Robbinses, Ryans and Espositos were up next.

Alexis had just woken from a rest and was lying on her side watching Petra sleep in her bassinet when there was a knock on the door and Dell Ryan stuck his head in. 'Alexis, Shane, is it okay for Little Miss Petra to have visitors now?'

'You betcha but...'

Shane's question died on his tongue when he saw Dell hold open the door and usher in the other young ones, each quiet as a churchmouse and just as reverent; they all clutched parcels in their hands as they gathered around to see the new addition.

'Oh, wow! Oh, she is so sweet!' Tessi sighed romantically. Being the oldest of four children she was no stranger to visiting mothers and babies in the hospital. She looked to Dell, who she'd 'married' two summers ago and wonder briefly if they would have babies that cute some day. 'When is her birth-time?'

'Birth-time?' Finn wrinkled up his nose in confusion. 'What's that?'

'Oh! I know!' Max hissed in excitement, bounced a little on the spot. 'Can I say it Tessi?'

'You sure can, just remember we have to use our nursery voices.'

'Yes Mami,' Trini teased her big sister.

'It means the time you actually were borned at, because until you reach that time on your birthday then that means you are fish-ah-ly that age. Right?'

'You got it bro.' Carey winked with his green eye at his brother's best buddy. 'See, I was born late at night, so even though I celebrate my birthday all day long, I don't really turn that age until after supper time on my birthday.'

'And someone like me and Tessi, we were born so late at night it was early in the morning!' Violet chimed in, with Mallory adding 'Exactly!'

She then poked her brother in the shoulder, never one to let the important stuff fall by the wayside. 'We need to put our presents somewhere safe, so that we can take a picture with the baby and not bump her or anything.'

'Mally!' Trini looked appalled. 'We would never do that to our buddy Petra!'

'No, she's not a buddy, she's a...' Finn wrinkled up his brow, looked to the wisdom of his older siblings. 'What is the word for a girl who is a friend but not a girlfriend like Violet and Leo.'

'Jeez,' Leo muttered, turning as red in his plump cheeks as Alexis' hair, which both tickled and embarrassed Violet in equal measure.

'You can call a girl a buddy, Finn,' she told her little brother. 'That is a unisex word.'

'Violet!' Now it was Max's turn to be scandalized. 'That's a very bad word! You said the S-word!'

'Guys, I thought the point of the visit was to see the baby,' Dell reminded them; being the oldest he knew it fell to him to keep them in line when their time was limited. 'Shouldn't we say things like how she's so cute and how Alexis did a good job?'

'Of course she did a good job, she's Alexis!' Mallory said it with a 'well, duh, you stupid boy who knows nothing' tone, one Alexis had often heard Jojo use on RJ when she thought he was being a right little prat. But the little girl wandered over to stand with Tessi and made a gooey face as she reached out a delicate fingertip to stroke Petra's blanket. 'She's so cute and she has that smell.'

'The smelly diaper smell?' Leo asked and Trini gave her twin an eye roll.

'No, silly, the new baby smell like...like...' She moved closer, snuffling like Tortuga at Petra's little head. 'Like fairies and magic and baby soap.'

'Look at the way she's wriggling around her arms and legs,' Leo whispered, steering Max over with him to see Petra snoozing. 'I bet she's gonna be a great swimmer, and bolley-ball player too.'

'No, she's gonna be a dancer,' Violet decided. 'Look how she is already moving her booty around! That's it, shake it little sister! It's your birthday you got lotsa reasons to boogie!'

'Oh no! Alexis! What's wrong! Why are you crying? It's a happy day! Your baby is here all safe and sound!'

All the under-thirteen heads whipped around at Carey's cry of alarm, and their eyes went wide when they saw Alexis dabbing at her eyes with a tissue as she tried not to bawl in front of the children. Immediately tender-hearted Leo and Professor Max were at her side and climbing into the bed with her to sit on either side of her propped-up knees.

'Alexis, it's okay to cry, Mami says that there is no shame in letting your feelings out because it's worse to keep it inside to yourself,' Leo reassured her.

'And...and she also says that when puh-reggo ladies who just had a baby have tears, it's because they are so ex-tah-ra super tired from making sure the baby got here okay they don't know their bottoms from their noses!' Max added, pushing his glasses up his little nose. 'Maybe we can visit you later when your hormonies aren't so super cuh-razy?'

'No, no, guys this is just great, I'm just so happy all of you are here to see our little girl,' Alexis reassured them with a little smile; seeing her smile made all the male hearts in the room beat a little easier. Even at age four, Max the youngest knew it was good when the ladies say they were really okay and smiling even if they were drying their tears up. Leo and Carey, however, were not so easily convinced.

'You're sure?' Carey gave her the evil eye up and down.

'Yes, I'm sure, Carey. Trust me, if I weren't okay, I wouldn't be even able to talk to you.'

'Okay then.'

'Hey.' Shane, who'd been quietly taking pictures of all the children as they'd crowded around to see Petra, set down the camera for a moment. 'Would anyone like to hold her?'

To his surprise they all shook their heads emphatically. 'No?'

'No, no, Shane.' Trini breathed it reverently. 'She's so little and new, we don't wanna mess her up!'

'You won't. I'll help you,' Alexis reassured them, then laughed when every last hand shot up now. 'That's more like it.'

'I think that Max should go first, since he's youngest,' Tessi told them, and the others nodded in agreement.

'Max, you down with that dude?' Shane asked him and Max nodded in his serious little way.

'Oh yes, I have to know, because if Trini and RJ get married that means Petra's our niece-in-law, and I hafta know how to look after her while she is little!'

Alexis grinned, picked up Petra from her bed. 'Brace yourself, baby girl, this is only the start of the family and friends.'


	96. Quiet Moments: 6 Hours 42 Minutes Old

'Oof, she's a hungry little thing!'

'Well, we want her to get big and strong, don't we?'

Alexis smiled as she looked into Petra's eyes as she nursed at her mother's breast, the lactation nurse standing beside the bed to see how her new little patient and mother were doing with the whole breastfeeding gig. 'We sure do, don't we my little angel? My precious little gem, yes we do.'

'How many diapers has she filled?'

'She's only about seven hours old and she's already gone through about three?' Shane looked in the journal he'd started to keep; being the organized fellow he was, he'd bought a gender-neutral green leather journal and on the inside cover had written 'Petra Body Notes'. 'Yep, one just after Alexis fell asleep after the birth, one just after the new grandparents and auntie and uncle visited and just after the new friends left. Is that good?'

'Yep, she should be filling up a nappy about eight to ten times a day. Breast milk is quickly digested by babies so don't be surprised by the frequency she'll need to be freshened up. How are you breasts feeling, Alexis?

'Soft and natural when she'd had her fill. Is that good?'

'That's exactly what you want,' the nurse reassured her.

'Good.'

'Don't worry if something doesn't go perfectly the first time either. You're both completely new to it so there is a little learning curve involved. Same for dad when he gives her bottles. Have you gotten a breast pump yet?'

'Yes, our friend Andrea Brick gave us a little hospital first-hours gift basket after we completed our birthing classes with her, and there was one in there.' Alexis saw Petra had finished with one side, gently shifted her little head to her other breast; she giggled when she felt Petra's little tongue test her nipple before latching on. 'That feels so funny.'

'Okay, things look good here, so I'll make a note in your chart for Bishop and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.'

The lactation nurse left, and Shane tried to grin his way out of a yawn as he watched his girls. He'd had no idea it wsa possible to feel so much love, nor that it was possible to feel so damn tired. Even being in basic training for the Air Force seemed, by comparison now, a walk in the park compared to watching his child be born. He pressed the back of his hand to his mouth to try and stifle it.

'Sorry, babe,' he apologized to Alexis, who simply shook her head.

'Shane, sweetheart, don't worry about it. It's been a long night, and our little girl is almost a whole seven hours old, and you've stayed by our side the whole time. I don't think you've even taken a bathroom break.'

'I did when you were napping,' he winked.

'I love you so much Shane.' She smiled, fatigue still threatening to take over. 'Hey I have a question.'

'Yah?'

'When is Petra's birth time? The kid asked about it but they got off on their own little tangent and the question never got answered, and I was too doped up on painkillers at the time to think to ask.'

'She was born at seven-thirty-nine in the morning, weighing in at seven pounds, twelve ounces and she's just over eighteen inches long. She'll be a Glamazon for sure. Here, let me.'

Shane scooped Petra, who'd finished snacking, out of her mother's arms and cuddled her close as he tapped her little back. He looked at Alexis - she'd begun to scoot her butt towards the edge of the bed. 'Where are you going, speedy?'

'The bathroom. Everything feels all weird down there, so I thought using the toilet might make it feel a little better.'

'Fair enough.'

Shane waited quietly while he watched Alexis, still fighting to get the anesthetic out of her system, walk with a little wobble in her step, towards the bathroom, then looked down at Petra. 'We want to make sure Mumum feels good, don't we my precious gem? Yes we do.'

Petra creaked and cooed, wriggling against Shane's body; her long fingers flexed and she gave a little sigh as she breathed in the scent of her daddy. Shane's heart went liquid with love and he closed his eyes, tilted his head to nuzzle his cheek against his daughter's brow.

'Papa loves you so very, very much, Petra Jasmine. There is nothing in the world more important to me than you or your mumum. The two greatest things in my life are in this very room and I love them both so very, very much.'

The toilet flushed and Alexis emerged, her face slightly red from exertion and she wrinkled her nose. 'I can't poop.'

'No?'

'No. I want to, very badly and my intestines are like, ehh, not right now, sweetie.'

'That's probably the anesthetic. It does tend to make you constipated. Maybe, when you get the all clear from Bishop for real-people food, we can get you something high in fibre to help that along.'

'I have some ideas, but that means you'd have to go and do a grocery shop, probably.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, I don't expect you to stay here out of some misguided idea that you're abandoning me if you need to look after you so you can be a rock star papa. I'm sure you want a shower and some sleep and some food, maybe even a glass of beer or champagne or a shot of whisky to take the edge off.'

'You see Petra?' Shane kissed the top of their daughter's head. 'That right there is why your mumum is the best, she's beautiful and smart, just like you.'

'Well, that and I think my dad and brother are planning on bro-napping you for a few hours for that very reason.' Alexis pursed her lips, looked around. 'Think there's any chance of me getting to have a shower too? It'd probably be good for my incision to heal.'

'If Doctor Bishop says you can only have one first, which will it be - food or shower?'

'Food, and I know I said I want fried chicken with all the fixings but maybe let's make that my welcome-home supper instead. I'm thinking I want a big hot mess for supper. With chocolate-chip oatmeal muffins for dessert, and a big bottle of Seven-Up sangria punch.'

'Gotcha. Hear that, Petra? We've got a task to do for Mumum, we have to make sure she gets some supper.'

When Petra began to hitch a little in his arms, Shane froze as alarm bells went off in his head. 'Oh no, baby girl, what is it? What is it?'

Petra's response was to wrinkle her nose up and let out a huge fart; as she cooed in what had to be contented infantile relief Shane could only laugh.

'Better out than in, Petra, and now I do believe it's time for a nappy change.'


	97. Siblings III

After Petra was tucked in for her afternoon nap, Shane wasn't surprised when Alexis nodded out once more - the woman had been through a lot in a single day and her hormones were probably still wreaking havoc on her systems. Now that they'd had some downtime, with no influx of people big or small, Shane could feel the strain of a long night on little sleep himself.

He got it now, how Adam and Lindsay could be so in love with their son yet totally appreciate a chance for some downtime. Shane wanted nothing more than to snuggle up his little girl for some quality father-daughter snooze time. He sat with Petra now, looking down at her beautiful perfect little face and felt his heart brim over.

'You are the most perfect little baby ever, my sweet sweet Petra,' he told her, 'and your papa love you so much, and your mumum too.'

Petra gave a little creak, as if to tell her father she understood he was pouring his heart out to her but she really wanted to nap. Shane pressed his lips to her head and smiled. 'You get your beauty rest, my darling and when Papa is back, he might just have a little treat for Mumum.'

'Shane?'

He glanced up, saw Beckett and Jojo standing there in the doorway, each holding hands. 'Hey ladies, how are you?'

'Mumum is here to take you to our house for a nap,' Jojo whispered, 'because you were up all day with Alexis making sure Petra was here safe and sound, and she said you need to crash so you can keep being super awesome for them.'

'That's a good idea but who is going to stay here to keep Alexis company?'

'Me an' RJ and Daddy.'

'Rick wants the kids to have some down-time with Alexis and Petra while you get a shower and some food and a power nap to recharge the batteries,' Beckett explained; she'd tried to keep her voice down but Alexis still woke, looking around.

'Shane, is Petra okay?' she asked in a sleep-slurring voice.

'Yes, my love, Petra is just fine. Your mom and brother and sister are here to keep you company while I go get a shower and a snack.'

'Oh, good plan,' Alexis mumbled, adding, 'So you can keep being awesome new Super-Papa,' before conking out once more. The sight of it had Beckett giggling.

'She's a textbook new mom, especially one who had a C-section.'

'I just don't-'

'Shane!' Jojo stepped over, gave him a pat on the hand. 'If you get sick or too tired, who will Petra be looking for when she needs her daddy?'

It was a little twisted but as Shane had watched Jojo grow up he could follow her line of reasoning somewhat. 'Jojo, I have no intentions of letting Petra or Alexis down, so I'm taking my wife and your mumum's advice and going to your house for a little bit so I can get some rest, and clean up, and snack.'

''Xactly,' Jojo agreed, then looked over her shoulder when Castle and RJ appeared as well, the latter looking very concerned. 'RJ, why you got your sad face on?'

'I'm not sad, I'm just nervous about the baby.'

'You worry too much,' Jojo scoffed, and dragged her brother over to the bassinet, pressed a little fingertip to the plastic gently. 'That is our new niece and you-' she poked him in the chest '-are the new uncle who is already so cool! She loves you already, you know? She does too, does too, and we are gonna have so much fun with her you won't have _time_ to worry if you break her or not!'

'Okay.' The boy inched closer to his niece, whispered to her, 'Hey little Petra, it's Uncle RJ. I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you.'

Petra, who was lying on her back, had worked one arm free as she stirred and Shane smiled when he saw the way his daughter clenched her little fingers.

'RJ, see that?'

'What?'

'That.' Shane pointed to how Petra's fingers curled into a fist with the pinky daintily raised and her thumb sticking out too. 'That's the sign surfers give to each other that everything's cool. And you know how much Alexis loved being in the water this summer when she had Petra growing big in her tummy.'

'Oh yeah!' RJ brightened and made the sign back to her. 'Yeah, we're cool, Petra. We'll have story time and tea and cookies as soon as your mumum wakes up.'

Petra gave a happy little creak and RJ beamed at Shane. 'She's a happy girl.'

'And I'll be a happy girl if you two monkeys can stop talking Shane's ear off so he can come home with me,' Beckett teased her children; she was met with a chorus of 'Yes Mumums' just as Castle walked in, carrying a tray of cold drinks. 'And it looks like Daddy has some treats, but-'

'Only if we're good,' Jojo finished with a smile, did a happy little dance. 'We're good. We'll listen. You go snooze just like Petra, Shane.'

Shane grinned as his pint-sized sister-in-law actually came over to shove him out the door with her little hands. 'Can't argue with that, now can I?'

* * *

When they arrived back at the loft, Shane wasn't surprised to see there was a fresh fluffy towel, a full toiletries kit and a change of clothes waiting for him in the bathroom. They thought of everything when their family and loved ones had been through an overwhelming ordeal, sad or happy. Despite the appeal hot water and a razor held, Shane just took a minute to sit down on the closed toilet seat and look at the photos he'd snapped on his phone.

Petra. His daughter. Alexis. His wife and now the mother of his child. He studied the picture, Alexis cooing at Petra as the little one nursed, big dark eyes trained on her mother's face as if to double-check she was doing things right. The sight of them together had the last of Shane's barely-held defenses sliding from his grasp of control - he set the phone aside, buried his face in his hands and wept. He didn't even register Beckett coming in and holding him around the shoulders until he heard her soothing voice murmuring, 'It's alright, big papa, everyone's here safe and sound, there's no need to fret.'

'I'm so sorry Kate-'

'For what?' The gentle tone turned sharply baffled. 'You just had a baby with your wife, a birth that was very harrowing for them both. You think I'm going to sneer because you're crying?'

'No, I just...I don't know.'

'You need rest. So here.' Ever the mother, Beckett pulled Shane to his feet, guided him towards the guest room just off her husband's office. 'Sleep first, then shower and food, maybe even a little drink to take that edge off. Then we'll get you back to Alexis and Petra.'


	98. Relaxing Moments

'Hi there, welcome to Gennaro's, what can I get for you?'

Shane smiled politely at the attendant of his favourite sandwich shop; really it was a favourite of everyone at the Twelfth Precinct. He scanned the specials board, grinned when he saw one of them. 'You're doing a chicken on biscuits special?'

'Yes, you can get it as a sandwich or in the specialty combo, with dressing, gravy and mustard green salad.'

'I'll take two of those, and two bottles of root-beer.'

'To go?'

Shane nodded, let Beckett inform the attendant of her pre-done order. 'I know there's probably much healthier options to have post-birth but I know my wife and I know she will burst into overtired hormonally happy tears at chicken, biscuits and the works.'

'She will. She probably won't remember the whole thing, only that you brought her something and she'll remember the feeling.'

'I know. I could probably serve her sticks and she'd still be grateful.'

'Oh probably,' she agreed. 'Shane?'

'Yeah.'

'Is there anything about the birth, or Alexis' or Petra's health you didn't tell us so we wouldn't worry?'

Shane looked at Beckett like she'd lost her mind. 'If something had gone wrong with Alexis or Petra during the birth, I'd be curled up on the floor of the birthing room in the foetal position. No pun intended.'

'Har-dee-har.' As Beckett knew this to be the truth she didn't press the matter further. Instead she collected her bags of sandwiches for the rest of the gang, and ushered Shane out of the cafe. 'You know my husband is planning to spirit you away for a few hours, right?'

'I know, and I know I'll have to protest for form's sake.'

'Don't worry Daddy,' Beckett grinned. 'You've got a whole lifetime of moments ahead of you. Right now, Alexis needs you in top fighting form to make sure you get through the first few post-birth days in one piece together.'

'Step one.' Shane lifted his own bag. 'Feed my baby mama.'

* * *

'Who's a pretty Petra? Who is the prettiest Petra we know?'

'She's the only Petra we know, Jojo.'

'Don't ruin my new auntie fun.'

Alexis giggled as she slipped out of the bathroom, listening to her siblings as they cooed at Petra who was being held by her grand-daddy. She still wasn't sure what her father was going to be called to Petra but there was plenty of time to work that out later. Right now she was just happy she could poop - she knew that was key for her recovery from the surgical birth of her daughter.

She tottered back to her bed, glad she was now wearing her own pyjamas; step one towards feeling like herself were her own clothes. Her eyes immediately focused on Petra, snuggled deeply in Castle's arms, Jojo and RJ stroking her fingers and legs. 'She's a little darling, isn't she guys?'

'She sure is,' RJ agreed, 'she's the most pretty baby ever and you and Shane will get to dress her up in beautiful clothes and we can dress her up in Hallowe'en costumes.'

'Holiday too!' Jojo brightened right up at this idea. 'We can dress her up as an elf or a snowflake or a sugar plum fairy!'

'Isn't that a restaurant?' RJ asked. 'Mallory said that her school-friend's mama is a chef there.'

'A sugar plum fairy, or mirliton, is a character from the The Land of Sweets in the Christmas story _The Nutcracker_,' Alexis explained, 'and the restaurant was named after the character because they are a restaurant that specializes in fancy desserts.'

'Oh, gotcha.' RJ wiggled the finger that Petra had wrapped her chubby little digits around. 'You hear that? You are gonna be a cute little mir-la-tin at Christmas, Petra!'

Petra's response was to wrinkle her nose up and let out a monstrous sneeze. When her little face crumpled up in confusion and fear, RJ was on his feet in a flash. 'Oh-oh-oh, Little Pretty Petra, here go to your mumum.'

With an amazing dexterity and skill, RJ eased Petra out of Castle's arms and brought her to Alexis, who cooed and mumured to her daughter.

'There, there my sweet little thing, it's alright, Mumum's here.' As this seemed to mollify the startled baby, Alexis swayed gently back and forth with her daughter in her arms; she wasn't surprised when she heard Castle sniffle. 'Daddy, I know, pretty scary seeing me with one of my own, huh?'

'Yeah, that,' he replied on a watery laugh as he took the tissues RJ offered him. 'Thanks, RJ.'

'Shane says it doesn't make us any less of a boy or a girl when we need to cry and that keeping it in makes things worse.'

'Petra sure knows that,' Jojo agreed, 'don'tcha little one? Oo I smell snacks!'

The door to the maternity suite opened and Alexis' heart went butter-soft with love when she saw her hero of a hubby had returned with a bag from Gennaro's. 'Tell me that a chicken club panini and I'll love you forever.'

'Better. Their special this week was southern fried chicken on a biscuit with all the trimmings.'

'Daddy, can you hold Petra while I thank Shane by having another of his babies right now?' Alexis teased her father as Beckett kissed him hello.

'Nice try, you've still got fresh stitches from our little flower there. Have you gotten cleared by Bishop for people food yet?'

She's not Tortuga, Shane,' RJ giggled.

'When you have an operation, RJ, you're not allowed to have certain things because they are too hard to digest,' Shane explained and the boy nodded sagely. 'So Alexis needs to have a check up from the doctor to make sure that she can eat the delicious treats I brought her.'

'Gotcha.'

Bishop came in the room just then, his solemn dark eyes not as solemn today. 'Hello Weaver and Castle families, how is our new addition doing?'

'Well we had a scary moment where Petra learned what a sneeze is, but fortunately we've all recovered,' Alexis told him, then jutted her chin at the small package in his hands. 'What's that?'

'Oh, just a little something I thought you might like to have. My wife Helen and I thought you would like it.'

Shane took it from Bishop, shredded through the wrappings to find a little onsie with bright pink letters that said 'Harvey's Angel' with a little halo looped around the capital A of Angel. 'That is so sweet,' he managed to say without his voice cracking from emotion.

'Mister Doctor Bishop?' Jojo moved closer to him. 'Can you do a check to make sure Alexis is allowed to have yummy snacks? Shane brought her a treat and we can't let it go to waste.'

'Of course not,' Bishop agreed, 'so if everyone could just clear out for a moment while I speak to the parents in private, we can make sure that doesn't happen a lot quicker.'


	99. Snacks

Shane took Petra to hold while Alexis tugged off her shorts and panties for Bishop to examine her uterus and incision. He bounced lightly to help lull Petra into a light snooze while he listened to the doctor's assessment of Alexis.

'You, my dear, are doing just spectacularly. Your incision is coming along very well and your uterus is already beginning to heal after the delivery of the placenta. Have you had any bladder or bowel movements?'

'I've peed twice and pooped once.'

'Did you experience discomfort or pain during any of the eliminations?'

'Not during the urination, but I was a little scared to poop because I didn't want to risk splitting my sutures,' Alexis replied honestly, and Bishop nodded, took out his prescription pad.

'Understandable, Doctor Weaver. I'm going to order a colonic for you from the pharmacy, you add it to a cold beverage so it doesn't irritate your digestive tract. It's perfectly safe for the baby as well, just a mix of vitamins and such to ease your muscles.

'So there's no need to worry about nursing Petra while it's working?'

'Only that you might have to go when she's in the middle of a snack,' Bishop replied, then hesitated. 'I hope you don't think I overstepped with the gift from myself and my wife.'

'Of course not.' Shane moved over to lay Petra in her bassinet, put his hand on the doctor's shoulder. 'We'd decided already that if we had a boy, we wanted to name him after Harvey so the gift achieves that end, too, to try and keep a little part of him with us always.'

'He'd have liked that, very much.'

Alexis fidgeted a little, then relaxed when Bishop removed his hand from her nether-regions. She tugged her bottoms back into place, sat up. 'So I'm on the mend, Petra's good and strong and Shane's the best new papa. When do I get to eat? I know that sounds selfish but it's been almost twenty-four hours since I last ate, and I did have a pretty busy day.'

'I understand, Lady Doctor Weaver,' Bishop chuckled. 'You are allowed to have the chicken and biscuits later, after the colonic works its way through. In the meantime you can have light cream soups, clear juices and tea. If you wanna get a little wild you can spike your apple juice with ginger-ale.'

'Thanks again for everything, Doctor.' Shane shook his hand, followed him to the door, then grinned when he saw the crowd of women coming down the hallway. 'Press yourself, Petra, the eagles are landing.'

'The eagles?' Alexis was confused, then overjoyed when Sloan and Lindsay swept into the room, all hushed giddy squeals. 'Hey girls!'

'Oh, Lexie, you're a mama now too!' Tears streamed down Sloan's olive-skinned cheeks as she came over to hug her friend. 'I'm so sorry we weren't there.'

'I knew you'd be on your way.'

'I told Adam we should wait to go away, I could just feel it,' Lindsay added with a delicate sniffle. 'He just thought that I was anxious about leaving Zane with my brother for the weekend.'

'You were leaving your son with your eighteen-year-old brother?'

'Noah's very responsible and Zane goes to his little happy place whenever Noah plays him class recordings. Plus Noah knows what would happen to his bony little ass if I find out he was less than a perfect uncle to my baby boy.'

'No swearing around the baby,' Sloan hissed playfully, then sat down on the edge of the bed to take Alexis' hands. 'Honey, are you okay? We heard it was a horrendously scary birth.'

'I'm just fine,' Alexis reassured her best friends. 'Really. I'm just hungry and want some time with my girls.'

'Well, I think you're getting that plenty tonight.'

At Sloan and Lindsay's secretive little smiles, Alexis gave them each a look. 'What's going on?'

'Nothing,' they chorused, Lindsay adding, 'We'll see about getting you something nutritious to eat.'

They gave Alexis kisses, leaving with the promise of returning with food appropriate for a post-surgical patient slash new mother to have while her incision healed. She looked Shane, who was busying himself searching for something in Petra's baby-bag. 'Shane?'

'Hmm?'

'Scheine,' she said using his given name, 'what did you do?'

'Nothing,' he replied in the same tone Lindsay and Sloan had used. 'Oh, and you called it right. Javi and Kevin want to abduct me to the loft again tonight for a few hours of new-daddy poker tourney.'

'Which probably means the girls are planning something here for me.' Alexis smiled, then winced a little as she felt a pang near her sutures. She massaged the area gently with her fingertips so she wouldn't claw at skin that felt so damn itchy. 'Question is, what?'

'Petra's in on the plan too,' Shane told her, and Alexis went giddy.

'Really? Petra, are you already planning surprises for Mumum?'

'Absolutely she is, we had a little chat while you were napping, didn't we my little gem?' Shane asked Petra, who was wriggling happily in her sleep. He smiled when he saw her fingers curl up just like they had for RJ when she'd given him the surfer's sign. 'She says, no worries, Mumum, we got your six.'

'Oh, Doctor your military past makes me so hot,' Alexis teased Shane; there was a knock on the door and she glanced over to see it open to Meredeth. 'Goodness, don't all of you have other places to be?'

'Yeah, probably but they're not nearly as important as being here with you.'

Meredeth wandered in with her thermal bag, began pulling out supplies for what appeared to be a picnic. She draped a little blue and white checked place-mat over the table, added a little electric candle and a silk tulip in a makeshift vase, and poured them ginger-ale in glasses brought from home. 'This is our first grandbaby, after all. Have your parents been by since the first hours, Shane?'

'They went to temple, since it is the sabbath, to say the prayers for babies being born. They'll be here tomorrow and they probably won't leave,' he laughed. 'What's this?'

'This is a treat to make you feel more like a human being and less like a science experiment.' Meredeth wrinkled her nose good-naturedly. 'That's how I felt, at least. Besides, you both need to eat and I figured it'd be cruel of you to be eating in front of Alexis when she can only have soft stuff because of the C-section so voila!'

The writer set a Tupperware tureen on the rolling-foot table by Alexis' side of the bed, away from the baby. 'My baked potato soup, the good light version. Javi made this for me when I had surgery for my cyst. It'll stick with you.'

Alexis sniffed, sighed in delight, then smiled when Petra began to fuss for her own snack. 'Looks like someone doesn't want to be left out of suppertime either.'


	100. Girls Night

'Alexis, you're sure?'

'I'm sure.'

'Because if you like-'

Alexis had to giggle as she walked slowly beside her husband while he pushed Petra's bassinet ahead of him. She knew she was probably pushing her nurse and doctor's patience to the limits but she wanted to get up and move around a little, so she told Shane after their afternoon visitors had left she wanted to go for a little stroll. They'd gone the marathon distant - to the end of the hallway to look out the window at a slightly rainy September night in Manhattan - and were on their way back, Alexis trying not to laugh at the way Shane was being such a Velcro new-daddy.

'Shane, my love, let me ask you something.'

'Sure,' Shane replied, knowing she was probably going to chide him over his current behaviour; he couldn't help himself, though - he wanted to make sure his wife and daughter knew how much he loved them both.

'If you are this clingy when she is barely twelve hours old, how are you going to be on her first day of school? Or her first ever sleepover? Or our first date night out when we're ready for that?'

'I know, I know, I just dont' want to miss any time with our precious gem,' Shane told her, looking down at Petra, who was awake and cooing merrily as they wandered around. 'No, no I don't.'

'Petra, remind Daddy that if he hangs around here, he'll be interrupting our girls' night plans, won't he?' Alexis said and felt her heart go to butter when Petra blinked and gurgled with such charm, she had to refrain from picking her girl up then and there. They'd made a deal, her and Shane - they could go for a walk if Alexis focused on walking only and didn't pick up Petra while she still had remnants of the anesthetic in her system. 'Yeah, we've got some serious partying to do tonight, girlfriend.'

'No Jell-O shots, though, Miss Petra, you keep Mumum in line.' Shane winked at his wife. 'You may not remember what happened the last time you did those but I sure do.'

'Yeah, you filled me in on the details. No, we're getting goofy on another kind of sugar. A much safer one for my milk, right Petra?'

'Alexis.'

'Right.' Her hands had instinctively reached for her daughter and Alexis pulled them back; her pout was short-lived, though, when she saw Honey-Milk pushing a cafeteria trolley towards them, into her room. 'Ooo, look Petra, our treats have arrived!'

Shane grinned, kissed Alexis' cheek as he saw Ryan following Honey-Milk down the hallway - he was clearly trying to catch up to his wife, then side-tracked himself when he saw Shane and Alexis.

'Hey guys! Look at you up and around, speedy! How are you feeling?'

'More human now that I've gotten to do things like go to the bathroom on my own and go for a little walk. I don't like just sitting around.'

'I've known very few pregnant women who do, they like to be up and active with the baby or the rest of the family. But no dancing on the tables tonight, right? Other wise our man here-' Ryan patted Shane's shoulder '-will be no fun for poker tonight.'

'It's going to be a real rowdy bunch tonight.' Alexis winked playfully. 'We're having an ice cream bar and movies in the lounge.'

'Who's we?'

'Mom, Jojo, Lindsay, Sloan, Honey-Milk, Mere, Lanie and Andrea. Lili might be able to make it if Missus Esposito can look after the little ones and Robina and Gil have a thing for Gil's dad tonight so they're in Brooklyn. Yes they are,' she cooed at Petra, who cooed right back and made her mother sigh. 'She's so good.'

'Know what else is good?' Honey-Milk appeared out of Alexis' room. 'Ice cream. So hop on in here, Weaver ladies and let the big strapping papa go smoke cigars and win at the card-table.'

* * *

'Miss Path-logist Lanie?'

'Yes Jojo.'

'Is it okay for Alexis to have chocolate?'

Lanie looked from Jojo, who was poking at her vanilla ice-cream topped with strawberries and peanut-butter chips while she watched Alexis create her own sundae - chocolate ice cream with chocolate-fudge sauce and rainbow sprinkly-thingies. 'She'll be just fine.'

'Because I heard Mumum say that Alexis drank tea instead of coffee when Petra was getting big in her tummy because of the caffy-something.'

'Caffeine, yes that's true,' Andrea agreed, adding a swirl of marshmallow creme to her strawberry ice cream. 'But it won't bother Petra when she has her breast milk.'

'Good thing my brother isn't here.' Jojo scooped up her ice cream with a knowing little feminine smile. 'He'd get all red and squirmy because you said the B-word.'

'Yeah, boys just don't get it some days, do they Jojo?' Sloan gave her a little conspirator's wink, returned her attention to little Petra, who was being cuddled by her grandmother. 'Petra, you better hope you get sisters and if you don't, your auntie Jojo will have excellent survivor tips on life with a boy. As will Auntie Lindsay.'

Lindsay scooted closer, reached out her fingertip to stroke Petra's cotton-covered leg; Alexis and Shane had changed her into first gift from her auntie Jojo and uncle RJ, a beautiful set of organic cotton pyjamas in banana yellow with an embroidered camel on the chest. 'You know it, little lady. I had three little brothers and now I've got Adam and Zane, I'm surrounded by boys so if you get any of those in the future, you come and see me, I'll have your back.'

'And if you get a mix, come find Tessi,' Meredeth chipped in, debating on what ice cream she wanted; she was powerless when it came to frozen desserts and wanted a little bit of everything. 'She's got two little brothers and a sister, so she knows how to handle all kinds of little siblings.'

'Please, I'm just adjusting to the idea of being an omi to one, let's worry about to and three and four down the road a little bit,' Beckett teased Alexis, who turned ruby-red.

'I still can't believe it, that she came from me,' Alexis sighed, then felt the rush of tears. She set aside her bowl of double-chocolatey goodness, pressed her palms to her face as she wept. No one said a word, not even Jojo, they just let her cry it out, do what she needed to do. When the well had run dry for the moment Alexis felt her little sister's tiny hand on her knee, patting gently to soothe as much to get her attention. She lifted her head from her hands, smiled at Jojo. 'Thanks, bumblebee.'

'Sometimes, you just gotta let it out,' the little girl replied with a sure nod. 'And now, since the tears are gone, there's more room for ice cream!'

'Jojo, there's always room for ice cream.'


	101. Boys Night

While Alexis and Petra spent their evening in the company of delectable frozen treats and new aunties, Shane returned to the scene of the crime for all the big moments of his relationship with Alexis - the poker table at the Castle loft. It was here when the beans were spilled about their relationship, here where Shane realized he was in love with Alexis and decided to propose to her, here where they'd made their precious little girl. Okay maybe not on the poker table directly, but Petra had certainly been made that chilly New Year's Eve in the loft when he and Alexis had been busted by RJ who'd seen far more than he'd needed to.

All roads lead to Richard Castle, Shane thought on a chuckle as he studied his cards, his quarries. A lousy pair of red twos was going to do him sweet fuck-all right about now, he groused to himsel.

'In for ten,' he said absently, tapping his index finger to an unknown rhythm on the table.

'Ten,' Ryan said to his left, with Esposito and Dave both raising to forty.

'I'm out.' Cam tossed his cards face down, planted his cane to lever himself out of his seat to hit the sideboard filled with snacks. 'Anyone need a drink?'

'Refill for our new daddy,' Esposito replied to his brother-in-law on Shane's behalf. 'He looks like he needs it!'

'Coming up.'

'I'm fine, guys, I don't wanna go back to the hospital reeking of booze,' Shane protested. 'That's just way too tacky and cliche.'

'Nah, we won't let that happen, not to worry.' Ryan waved him off good-naturedly. 'Besides, if Alexis gets loaded on sugar the way I know the girls will do to her, she might be seeing everything in Day-Glo and you'll look like a waving daisy to her.'

Esposito shook his head, laughed. 'I remember one night, Tessi was about three months old and Meredeth was having a sugar fix so she ate nearly two pints of Ben and Jerry's peanut-butter banana Greek frozen yogurt. I thought she was gonna be crawling on the ceiling she was so jacked up.'

'Alright, alright, enough gabbing.' Castle, in his role as dealer, pointed a finger around the table. 'Who's in, who's out?'

'Out,' Dave sighed, then went to join Cam picking out a drink. Back at the table, Castle dealt the flop cards - two of clubs, ten of spades, three of hearts.

'Alright, the Ry-Sposito monster versus Big Papa. Who's it gonna be?'

'No Ry, just Sposito,' Ryan informed them; he was happy to toss in his pair of jacks since it was less than likely he'd win against either of them. 'Dave, grab me a beer.'

'Got it!'

Esposito grinned viciously, showing off his perfect teeth. 'You and me, bro, what's it gonna be?'

Shane considered his quarry with cool eyes, pursed his lips as he thought how he now had three of a kind. 'I'll go in for twenty.'

'See your twenty, raise your twenty.'

'You wanna play? Alright, Big Papi, let's dance.' Shane tossed in more chips. 'See your twenty, raise you another twenty.'

'Call.'

Both men looked to Castle, who turned up the next card - the queen of spades. Esposito blinked, mentally picturing his six and nine of spades. All he needed was that last card to come up a spade and he'd be taking Meredeth out for a very nice dinner on the anniversary of their first-ever date.

He watched Shane's face as the man studied the bored, the face of a man clearly distracted by his thoughts; obviously Esposito couldn't blame him for having his brain somewhere else. He cocked his head to the side, saw not just distraction but the thousand yard-stare he'd seen in Cam when he was recalling traumas of his experiences in Iraq.

'Hey, Shane. Dude, are you okay?'

'No, I...I'm fine.' For whatever reason, the simplicity of his friend's question, or the camaraderie of being with men he considered brothers, Shane's emotions got the better of him and he simply got up from the table; he tucked his cards in his pocket and went to excuse himself. 'I have to..ummm...'

'Hey, hey.' Castle recognized the signs - his son-in-law had the same bewildered expression as when he'd come to tell them that Petra was born after some harrowing moments. In a flash he was on his feet, his hand on Shane's shoulder to spin him back to face him. His heart squelched when he saw the effort Shane was taking to keep it to himself. 'Shane, it's alright, son. It's alright.'

It broke him once more, to have that genuine understanding without judgement, and Shane's broad shoulders heaved up and down, up, down as his emotions came pour out of him. The rest of the men left their card game to come over and pat Shane's back as he wept against Castle's broad shoulder, the older man stroking his hair like he was an overtired child as the new father tried not to sob.

'She almost didn't make it,' he said, voice cracking like a teenager's.

'Who didn't?' Dave asked gently. 'Alexis or the baby?'

'Petra, she...she had the cord around her neck in such a way that if...that if Alexis had tried to push, she would have strangled herself by accident.'

Ryan's mouth worked up and down silently, giving Esposito the chance to step in with his own story of being a first-time father. 'Hey, Shane, when we shared stories about our kids being born, did I tell you what happened with Mere when Tessi was born?'

'I don't remember.'

'When Mere was in labour, at the pushing stage, Tessi wasn't turned all the way, so I had to watch Jim Harvey turn Tessi before she was out so she wouldn't go into distress.'

'How does that help me?'

'Because that feeling passed, bro. It passed and I hardly ever think on it, because there are too many happy moments. I know it's near the surface right now, but the scared feeling will pass. Right now, you need something to drink and to play some cards with us.'

'Okay.' With a small sniffle, Shane went back to the table along with the others, dug his cards out of his pockets. 'Where, ah, where were we?'

'I was just about to kick your ass, bro.'

Esposito's cockiness made Shane laugh, then go cool-eyed when he saw the card Castle turned up - the two of spades. He sat back, watched with Ryan, Cam and Dave as Esposito triumphantly turned up his cards.

'Spades flush, my main man.'

'Not so fast.' Shane leaned forward, tipped his own hand and made a show of pretending to count up the twos as the others stared goggle-eyed at his luck. 'I believe that's all four twos, yes?'

'Sure is,' Dave agreed, began nudging the stack of chips towards Shane. 'Looks like the streak continues. New baby daddies always have the best luck.'


	102. Reunions

By eleven, only Sloan, Beckett and Jojo were left visiting Alexis and Petra, all of whom had had at least three serving of ice creams. The sight of Jojo hopped up had Alexis giggling and wondering how the hell the little one was going to get any sleep when she was told it was time to go home. Unlike RJ who just slept it off, Jojo rode the white lightning with glee.

'Mumum, mumum, mumum, mumum,' Jojo chanted as she stirred was Alexis suspected was simply a bowl of strawberry preserves, sprinkles and peanut butter chips. 'Mumum, mumum, mumum.'

'Jojo, are you high?' Sloan giggled, licking the last of her own chocolate ice cream and butterscotch sauce off her spoon.

'High in the sky like a little butterfly,' Jojo sang sweetly, then grinned the pie-eyed grin of a sugar junkie. 'Mumum, mumum, mumum.'

'Jojo, is there any particular reason you keep saying that?' Alexis asked, making her younger sister roll her eyes.

'Because Petra needs to hear it so she knows that's the word we say for mommy in our family.'

'Speaking of our family.' Beckett shifted her legs, stood up beside her bed to stretch her back. 'Sloan, why haven't we had a Real Live Women exhibit this year?'

'Okay, I had to be sworn to secrecy until Vanity Fair gave me the green light to let everyone know.' Sloan gave a happy little wiggle. 'Vanity Fair wants us to a monthly feature all next year. One Real Life woman per month with a kickoff party on December thirtieth for all the models and the regular debut of the exhibit.'

'Oh my god! That is amazing!' Alexis clapped excitedly, careful not to wake Petra before her probable midnight snack. 'Look at you with the awesome career high note! Who'd have thought when you first started out taking wedding pictures for free you'd be here.'

'I knew you'd make it, Sloan.' Beckett winked at her, discreetly taking Jojo's dish from her line of sight since the girl was lost in cooing at Petra. 'I also knew you were too good for that jerk Garrett.'

'Ditto,' Alexis agreed, smiling at Petra who had woken and was blinking her big dark eyes, focusing on her voice. 'Hey there, my precious gem, you wanted to be awake with the big girls, huh?'

'She sure did, she didn't wanna sleep through the party!' With an amazing amount of self-control, Jojo reached out a delicate fingertip and stroked the back of Petra's hand. 'No, my little nice.'

'Nice?'

'That's what Max said she is,' Jojo retorted regally.

'I think he means 'niece',' Sloan said with a little chuckle.

'Ooo, you know what Sloanie, I think you're right. Mumum?'

'Oh is that one directed at me,' Beckett laughed.

'Uh-huh. We should invite Devon and Nate and Zane over for a visit so we can have a play time for Petra. I got to have play-time with Devon when we were little?'

'And it would send RJ into little fits.'

'Sloanie, I have a question for you now.' Jojo turned towards her sister's friend. 'Devon is like Alexis and TJ, he has a different bio-daddy than Nate does right?'

'Right,' Sloan agreed slowly on a laugh.

'When did Devon get to call Jeremy his daddy?'

'What makes you ask about that?'

Jojo shrugged. 'I heard Mister Jeremy say something about it to Shane today, how when he hears his little one call him Papa for the first time there is just nothing like it.'

'That's very true.' Sloan thought of the conversation she and Jeremy had had with Devon when they'd discovered she was pregnant with Nate. Her little boy, her angel, had asked if the baby was going to call Jeremy 'Daddy' so could he call him Daddy too. Fortunately, before she could get too mushy from her own memories, she saw Shane standing in the doorway, looking far more rested and refreshed than the last time she'd seen him, just before he'd been dragged off by Beckett to get some sleep and a shower. 'And speak of the devil.'

'Very handsome devil,' Alexis grinned. She shuffled towards him, kissed his lips lightly before she scampered as quickly as she could to the bathroom. 'Back in a flash, my love.'

'Shane!' Jojo wiggled happily, raced to the side of Petra's bassinet. 'Look, Petra, your papa is here! Don't fall asleep, he came back to visit you and your mumum!'

At the word mumum, Petra began to fuss and splutter a little; the plaintive sound had the sugar-high nervous new auntie fluttering her hands. 'Oh, it's okay, little Petra! It's okay, Mumum and Papa will make it all better! Look, here's Papa to make you happy again!'

'She's not sad, bumblebee,' Shane chuckled as he lifted Petra into his arm, gently swayed as he walked around the room with here. 'She's just feeling left out.'

'Left out?' Jojo's eyes went wide at the idea her little niece was already being bullied. 'No, no, no that's why we had girls' night here, so she and Alexis would be included!'

'I mean you got to have ice cream and she hasn't gotten her snack yet.'

When Beckett saw Jojo's eyes fill with tears, she nodded briskly. It was home tome. 'Alright, I think it's time to let Alexis and Shane and Petra have some family time now,' she informed them, scooped the tired and sniffling Jojo into her arms. 'We'll see you sometime tomorrow, whenever you're up for visitors, okay? Just let us know.'

'You got it.'

The door to the maternity suite's bathroom opened and Alexis scooted over to her bed, held out her arms for Petra; her mother and friend gave her kisses goodnight, and once they were clear of the room, Alexis tugged at her top to nurse Petra. The baby's fretful cries subsided to happy little mewls as she had her fill. When she heard a little sniffle, she looked up and saw Shane wiping at his eyes.

'Oh, big papa, it's okay, we're here, safe and sound.'

'I know,' Shane laughed, 'and I know I'm probably the biggest suck in the world for acting like this but-'

'Shane, you were a rock-star, so cool and together when I needed my man,' Alexis replied, running her fingertip near Petra's lips to make sure she remembered to breathe. 'I think you're cool to let it out now.'

He wanted to protest he'd been held together by sheer force of will, Diet Coke and the promise of seeing his baby born safely but Shane knew when to pick his battles. Instead, he moved so he was sitting cross-legged on the end of the bed, and watched his beautiful girls. It was staggering to see them together, the woman of his dreams and the life they'd made together. Shane knew it probably made him a great big Neanderthal but in that moment, watching them together, he'd never felt more like a man in his life.

A real man, he thought with a joyous smile, a family man.


	103. Homecomings: 5 Days Old

Despite what some might have thought, Alexis wasn't irritated in the slightest about hte fact she had to spend nearly four days in the hospital after Petra's birth. On the contrary, she was glad to be in a place where she felt safe and secure as she recovered from her surgery while having a newborn to look after.

Shane, her knight in shining armour, was a dream come true – he was there with her through it all, only taking breaks when someone arrived to take his place, even while she slept. Alexis knew this to be true because she would wake up from her naps to find a note tucked in with Petra telling her mumum that Papa would be back soon and in the meantime there were friends nearby to keep them company.

'Such a funny guy Papa is, huh my little treasure?' Alexis cooed at the burbling Petra as she gently but firmly tugged on her coming home outfit Auntie Jojo and Uncle RJ had picked out for her - banana yellow pyjamas with a Curious George decal on the chest along with the words 'cheeky little monkey' in warm earthy brown. RJ, not usually one for fashion, had insisted on adding little white socks with dancing bananas on them; when pressed he'd explained that Trini had told him they had to 'ax-er-size' the outfit. Alexis grinned when she watched Petra wiggle her little legs, creak happily. 'Yeah, we sure love Papa. All that love is how you got here.'

'Says you, big sister.'

Alexis looked over, saw her brother standing in the doorway alone. 'RJ, what are you doing here?'

'Mumum and Daddy let me stay with Shane since he said you are going home today.'

RJ moved over to the bed where Alexis was dressing Petra; her new-mother's heart glowed bright when she saw RJ rubbing the soft fabric of the baby's clothes between his fingers. 'Oh, so soft and pretty for little Princess Petra Jasmine. You are a pretty little princess, you sure are and look who came to visit!'

Like a toreador swirling his cape, RJ made a grand flourish and whipped out a very familiar face. 'Look, it's your bunny-buddy Omeo! Alexis gave this to me when I was your age.'

'Oh, goodness, RJ,' Alexis laughed, amazed her almost eight-year-old brother was pulling the 'when I was your age' card on his newborn niece.

Rj paid her no mind as he went on, 'This is a very special bunny, he came from a place way-way far away called London England. She got it at a store called Harrod's. I think when you're big enough, you and I and our family should go there.'

'That would be great,' Shane agreed from the doorway, shoving in a wheelchair for Alexis. 'Your chariot awaits, Mumum.'

'Well, we are almost ready to go aren't we Petra?'

Petra responded with a tiny little sneeze that had her face threatening to crumple in confusion but RJ was right there with Omeo, making the stuffed rabbit peck her reddened little cheek. 'There you can't be sad with bunny kisses, can you?'

'No, you can't,' Alexis replied, 'she just needs a hug from Mumum.'

'That's you!' RJ grinned broadly, watching his big sister pick up her little baby and murmur to her just as he remembered his own mother doing with Jojo. He frowned in concern as Alexis gently swayed back and forth to soothe Petra who quieted shortly. 'Wow, Alexis, you're an awesome mumum already! Petra, you have no idea how awesome she is right now, but you'll know soon enough!'

Shane could see even from across the room that Alexis' eyes were filling up and they were threatening to spill over so he gave RJ a boys-only grin. 'RJ, Alexis has the boobs for breast-feeding so Petra already thinks she's great.'

It did the trick – RJ went beetroot red and stuck out his tongue as he screwed up his face, making Alexis giggle. 'Shane, I did _not_ need to hear that! It was bad enough when Mumum or Meredeth or Lindsay had to do that, I don't wanna think about Alexis doing that either!'

'Well you know that's how babies get feed, bro. You're big enough to remember when Jojo had to do that.'

'I know, I know, just...' RJ held up his hands, flapped them a little. 'It's not _nice_ okay? Let's talk about something nice right now.'

'Okay, how about you take Petra's bag for us, so Alexis can sit down with the baby and I can push her to the elevator?'

'Sure!'

RJ hoisted the baby bag, watched Alexis like a hawk as she gently lowered herself into the chair; she still had stitches in her tummy to make sure where the doctors had made the incision - he was proud he knew that word - so that Petra could be born safely. She might be a mumum now, and twenty-something years older than him, but he knew his job as the brother was to protect _all_ his sisters, big and small. He opened the zipper, tucked Omeo in and zipped it shut so the stuffed bunny appeared to be popping out to give a hug.

The quartet headed for the elevator, and when they reached the airy, glass-walled lobby RJ frowned when he saw all the cars zipping through the visitor's drop-off carport. 'Shane?'

'Yes?'

'You're not making Alexis and Petra ride the subway home, are you?'

'Of course not, bro,' Shane replied with a grin. 'We rented a car for the month so we would have wheels at our disposal.'

'You're gonna through them out?'

Now it was Alexis' turn to laugh. 'At our disposal means whenever we want to use it, it's there, not disposable as in the car is ready for the garbage bin.'

'Oh. So, like, if I said I had a whole weekend free to come and help take care of Petra, I could say, whatever you need I'm at your disposal?'

'Exactly. Petra, you should hang with RJ, he'll have you quoting Shakespeare before kindergarten!'

'Like Dave does? Oops, this is your spot!' RJ, so used to climbing in the front seat because Jojo was still too small, backed up and smiled at Alexis. 'You beside your Hubba-bubba.'

'Actually, I'm riding in the back today, so I can hang with Petra,' she replied on a giggle; it seemed RJ had inherited their father's gift for words. 'You can hang up there with Shane.'

'Okay!'

But despite the appeal being in the front seat with a grownup in the back, RJ spent most of the ride twisted around to talk to Petra; by the time they were back in Grammercy Park, Alexis was amazed her brother hadn't developed laryngitis. She finally reached her limit of staying quiet at his new-uncle antics when they arrived home and took Petra to her room; he dropped to his knees after Alexis had lain Petra in her crib in the green-apple coloured nursery as though searching for something.

'RJ,' Alexis asked him, 'what are you doing?'

'Checking for monsters, of course.'


	104. Naps

'Please? Please, please, please Mumum?'

Beckett felt her heart rip as she listened to her son nearly begging. It was such an odd thing - RJ was rarely whiny unless overtired to the extreme and never pleaded or cajoled for anything that was unrelated to Trini or cuisine. 'I'm sorry RJ, but we're letting Shane and Alexis have a night to themselves. Alexis is already napping right now, and so is Petra, and I bet Shane is ready for a nap too, right?'

'Sure am,' Shane agreed, though truth be told, he was still hopped on caffeine from all the coffee he'd gleefully consumed in the past week. RJ, however, missed this entirely and looked hopefully at his mother.

'Exactly,' he pressed Beckett, 'so if I'm here, they can relax for a few hours and I can watch Petra! It's not like she's gonna go hangman-gliding off the fire ladder!'

'Be that as it may.' Beckett pressed her lips together to keep from wetting her pants with laughter that made her tremble as she held it it. 'Daddy and Jojo, and Grams and Shir and Chaim are all waiting for us back at the house to have a celebration dinner.'

'So shouldn't the new mumum and papa and baby be there for that?'

'RJ.' Sensing Beckett was starting to falter a little bit, Shane stepped in, crouched so he was at eye-level with his brother-in-law. 'Trust me, we are going to have a very special celebration dinner in about five days, because we have a special naming ceremony so Petra will get her Hebrew name.'

'Well...alright then. As long as Petra doesn't get left out of all the fun stuff, just because she is so little.'

'RJ, I sincerely doubt that will ever happen because you guys have all made sure Petra gets as much attention as everyone else.'

'What does sincerely mean?'

'It means really or very or honestly.'

'Oh. Okay.'

Shane arched an eyebrow when RJ zipped into the nursery; he followed him over, saw RJ slip his hand through the rails of Petra's crib to stroke his fingertips over her curled little fist while she slept.

'I sincerely love you, my new little niece Petra,' he whispered to her. 'You have a nice nap and we'll play together very soon. Maybe we can even have a bottle-snack together. You get boobie-milk and I'll have chocolate milk not from boobies.'

RJ marched past Shane, who was turned an interesting shade of fuchsia as he tried not to laugh at the eight-year-old. He waved them off with a promise to email RJ if there was anything cute to report. The moment they were gone, Shane went into the nursery to check on Petra, and stroked her tiny little head; she was wearing the matching banana-covered hat to her pyjamas, so Shane brushed the kiss over her forehead.

'Papa loves you, Petra,' he murmured to her before going to join his wife in their bedroom. Shane wasn't surprised to find Alexis curled onto her side, sleeping in only her disposable panties the book had recommended for after the birth while the uterus began its initial healing process. The hand that had been hooked to the IV in the hospital was tucked under her head. Her face was so peaceful, so serene, the light of all love in the world there. Moving quietly, he stripped down completely naked, spooned up behind her with his hand resting over her loose belly. It felt so different now that Petra was here, and yet the softness, the texture of it was all Alexis. His beautiful sexy Lexy.

'Alexis, I love you so much,' he whispered to her, kissing the back of her neck before drifting into sleep.

* * *

She woke some time later, unsure of the time. Like any mother, now when she was roused Alexis' first thought was for her baby; when she heard Petra's sleepy sighs through the baby monitor on her bedside table, she relaxed back into the pillows and turned to her husband. She watched him resting, his face lax and smooth with much-needed sleep. He was so wonderful, was all she could think. He was so wonderfully strong and brave when she hadn't been, when she could only think of Petra being born safely and she'd wept bitter tears of fear.

'My big strong man,' she murmured, stroking her fingers through his soft black hair. She moved closer, laid her lips on his throat to feel his skin, breathe in the scent of him. The familiar fragrance had tears springing into her eyes and before Alexis realized it, she was weeping against his shoulder. When his arms came around her, she let out an audible sob. 'Oh, Shane.'

'It's okay Lex.'

'Shane, I'm scared. What if I'm not a good mom?'

'You're already a great mom. Or rather, a mumum.'

'I-'

'It's okay to be scared, Alexis,' Shane told her, 'we're both brand new at this, but we are not alone.'

'I can't be a failure and have them all telling me what to do, things I should already know.'

'Shh-shh-shh.' He shushed her, knowing this was as much her true fear as it was the soup of post-birth hormones. 'Alexis, do you think your mom and Lanie and Meredeth, that Honey-Milk and Andrea and Sloan and Lindsay had any idea what they were doing when they first became parents?'

Alexis meditated on this for a moment. 'Honey-Milk and Andrea work with little kids all the time, and my mom was already learning to be a parent on me.'

'That's not the same, though, we both know that. It's okay to be scared Alexis, every new mom is scared. Know how I know you'll be great though?'

'How?'

'Because I know how much you love Petra and how much you want to make her proud you are her mumum. So even when you get scared, you will be there to love her and protect her and guide her.'

This set Alexis' tears off once more, and Shane knew she was more hormonally than upset now bc she let out a wet laugh. 'You'll be there too, you know.'

'Yes I will. I'm scared too, but that's why we've go each other, to be scared together and figure it out now.'

As if to give them a perfect parent-learning moment, Petra began to fuss through the baby monitor and Alexis was up like a flash, tugging on shorts that rode high on her hips so as not to disturb the stitches due for removal the next day. She zipped into the nursery and saw that Petra was making the face that accompanied hunger. 'Okay, okay, my little one, Mumum's here, we'll get you fixed up.'

The two Weaver ladies when into the living room when Alexis grinned - Shane already had the nursing pillow and a receiving blanket for Alexis' shoulder ready to go. She settled herself onto her end of the couch, Shane putting the pillow in place while Alexis adjusted herself for Petra to nurse.

'See?' he told her proudly. 'Teamwork.'


	105. Families: 10 Days

_Hello all! I know I've been a little lazy on the whole updat_e thing lately but the lead-up to Christmas break is always a_ busy time of year. As always, thank you to my ladies **Alex Beckett, anomalymona, ****babycastle09, NotJana **and_ **_tayababy_ **_and my little partners in crime **dasKamel, Fluffy and Jellibar**. Thanks for always having my back and being there for me and being the best sisters I can ask for. Also, I don't own the song featured in here. Merry Christmas!_

* * *

'Shane?'

'Yeah?'

'Is there any way to get my stupid bloody spell check to stop auto-correcting 'simchat bat' into 'SIM-Card'? It's getting on my nerves!'

Shane looked up from where he was stretched out on the floor beside Petra, who was lying on her back and examining the world around her. 'I have no idea. I've had my phone for so long it just realizes what I'm saying already. Doesn't it Petra? It sure does!'

'Petra, just because Daddy got to give you your first bottle this morning does not mean you get to go switching teams,' Alexis teased her daughter as she stretched her legs on the couch. She scratched absently at the spot where her stitches had been removed that morning, hoped her bikini wouldn't hide it the following summer. Unlike some women in her acquaintance from medical school and even those in the clinic, Alexis was quite proud of her scar; it was a reminder of the fact that her little girl was a tough little nut right from square one.

She looked over, saw little Petra wiggling happily and Shane beaming like a sun. Happiness, she thought, was right here. Her husband, her lover her best friend all rolled into one and their little girl. Safe, healthy, gurgling away like a champ. The post-birth hormones, or maybe just the moment, had her eyes filling up a little. A quick cough had them clearing away and she read aloud the email she was composing to their family.

'How does this sound? The Doctors Weaver invite you to the simchat bat for Petra Jasmine Weaver on the evening of Wednesday September twenty-eighth at seven pm at the Castle loft. Ceremony to be presided over by Rabbi Oliver, beginning at six-thirty pm with food and party to follow.'

'That sounds great. Doesn't it Petra?' Shane put his palm on Petra's tummy, gently wiggled her. The movement had him wrinkling his nose. 'Oof, I think our little gem needs a change of drawers.'

'Oh yeah, agreed.'

'Come on, stinky-girl.'

Shane got to his feet, held Petra close and told her how it might seem like she was doing this a lot but that meant she was good and healthy. Alexis grinned, signed the email and hit send before setting aside her laptop and heading into the kitchen to make tea. Petra was inevitably a creature of habit already, settling into a routine. She would be getting sleepy soon, which meant a naptime snack and then tucked in for a few hours. That would mean Alexis and Shane had a little time for themselves, which meant they would get to eat and watch a movie or something just the two of them.

She was just turning on the kettle when the buzzer for the front door rang. Confused, Alexis went to answer it and blinked when she heard Shir's voice.

'Hello _shani_, are you busy with the baby at the moment?'

'No, Shane is just changing her nappie.'

'Oh good. I'll be up in a moment.'

Out of habit, Aleixs pressed the button to let Shir in, then looked around at the state of the apartment. It wasn't messy, exactly, just...lived-in, she decided; she knew Shir wouldn't judge her since she did have a little seven days old baby just home from the hospital. Still, it was a little point of pride to Alexis so when Shir knocked on the door she tried to let it go. The thought left her head instantly when she opened the door and Shir threw her arms around her daughter-in-law without any preamble.

'Alexis, you look beautiful! You've got that new mother's glow.'

'That's sweat from trying to keep up doing everything.'

'Alexis, you know the books say you should rest when your body tells you too, right my sweet?'

'I know but-'

'But you being you are about as stubborn as my Scheine and thinking you need to be Wonderful-Woman from square one.'

'Wow,' Alexis laughed as Shir slipped off her shoes, set her purse and bag down by the kitchen table. 'You are just about as bad as my mother for that. And on occasion your son too.'

'Mama?' Shane walked out of the nursery, surprised delight on his face. 'Mama, what brings you here?'

'You and my grandbaby. I'm here to visit without you for an hour or two.'

'Excuse me?'

'You two go get tidied up, and go out, and I'll take care of Petra for you.'

Shane shook his head as if to clear the cobwebs out that were preventing him from hearing correctly. 'Excuse me?'

'I understand how hard you two have been working the last few days, especially to get things ready for the naming ceremony so I am here to give you a little parents' evening out.' Shir pulled out two tickets from her purse along with a twenty dollar bill. 'Here. You two are going to see _DragonVale Tales_ at eight-fifteen seven blocks away. I know it's for children but it was the shortest run-time since I figured you wouldn't want to be away from your little gem for very long. And your friend Boh-dee is expecting you for pick up on a special little treat once it is done.'

'Mama, I-'

'Scheine, I won't take no for an answer right now. Parents need breaks, especially new parents, so there isn't any burnout.'

Every fibre of Shane's being wanted to take the tickets and grab Alexis to head out the door and it made him feel guilty as hell. Then he turned to look at Alexis, and realized his mother was right - Alexis' expression held the same excited glow as when she saw she was getting a spa day to make herself feel special. He pulled her in for a little hug, then look at Shir.

'There is plenty of breast milk in bottles in the fridge, and everything in the nursery is labeled.' Alexis grinned. 'I'm going to get a shower and do my hair.'

She zipped off, leaving Shane to sigh. 'I'm sorry, Mama, I'm not thinking clearly. I didn't think Alexis would be up for it so soon.'

'Alexis needs it as much as you do, my boy.' Shir put her hand to Shane's cheek. 'It's easy to forget that a C-section birth is a surgical procedure and that a mama sometimes needs to get out sooner rather than later since that means she probably had an extended hospital stay. You're a great husband Shane and you'll be an even more amazing father.'

Shane grinned when he heard the water running in the shower. 'I think you're right Mama.'

'That's a secret you'll get to learn now that you've got your own little one.' Shir winked at her boy, the new papa. 'Mamas are _always_ right. Even when we're not, we're right.'

* * *

The night out was exactly what she'd needed, Alexis realized as she checked her makeup in the mirror of the Castle loft bathroom. She'd never have made it through the special naming ceremony tonight without it. It was impossible for her hormones right now to handle oscillating between just the three of them at home and a huge crowd and be comfortable with that switch up all the time. And in true first-time-away-from-baby mommy style, Alexis had called when they'd left the theatre and then again when they'd left Love on a Bun to let Shir know she and Shane were on their way home. Shane, being a wise man and good hubby, hadn't said a word at all, though Alexis suspected that he'd let her do it so he wouldn't have made a million calls home himself.

The softie part of the ceremony was over too, thank goodness. Alexis didn't know how she didn't float away on the river of tears - everyone in their family, the Espositos, the George-Espositos, the Parrish-Robbinses, the Ryans, the Mazzaras, the Channings, the Brennans, the Bricks, and of course the Castle-Weaver family had been crying happy little tears as Rabbi Oliver had done the blessings with little Petra Jasmine Adi wrapped in Shir's prayer shawl that she'd been given by Chaim's mother as a gift when they'd announced their engagement. She'd been given her Hebrew name meaning 'jewel', after Chaim's mother who had told Chaim he would have a girl for his first grandchild shortly before her death. Though many hadn't understood the ritual's prayers as they were in Hebrew, everyone understood that this was most definitely a blessing to celebrate the safe arrival of a healthy baby. Petra was so good, too, she'd barely made a noise when the rabbi touched her tiny little forehead with oil from the menorah to symbolize the miracle of the birth and the light of joy children bring to the world. Shane had said that wasn't strictly speaking an actual ritual but his parents had done that for his own briss since they'd been encouraged to bring something of their own into the ceremony. Alexis was hardly one to argue with the sanctity of family traditions so she'd just smiled proudly and let herself have a little eye-contact with Shir and Chaim during that part.

Now Alexis had her own little moment as she'd drank down the ceremonial wine and wanted to pump it out as quickly as she could so she wouldn't have to worry about hurting Petra when she was hungry. She'd let herself weep a little once finished, but now it was time to dry her eyes and eat - that was definitely a tradition of Shane's faith she loved. There was certainly no shortage of food whenever it came time for a Jewish ritual.

'Alexis?'

There was a knock on the door, along with RJ's voice calling out to her. 'Come on in buddy,' she called to him as she tidied up her breast pump and poured the soiled milk down the sink with the running water. She was on the last glass when her brother opened the door.

'Lex, doesn't Shane need that for giving Petra her bottles when you want a nap and my pretty little niece is hungry?'

'Not this stuff, RJ,' she explain, pointing at the sink. 'This has remnants of alcohol in it because of the ritual wine Shane and I drank when Rabbi Oliver was doing the ceremony.'

'We can't get the baby drunk,' RJ replied with such concern that Alexis had to giggle.

'Exactly. But we can get me stuffed on bagel sandwiches and pomegranate punch.'

'That's a good plan. Jojo's already had so much she has a Joke mustaschio.'

Alexis dried her hands, followed RJ out; it wasn't hard to figure out where Petra was in the sea of people as a small clutch of children were crowded around Lindsay who was sitting with Beckett holding Zane on her knee; the little boy was a looker with Lindsay's tawny complexion and Adam's serious eyes. She moved closer, saw it was Jojo, Nate, Max, Devon and Heddie all watching the two babies like they were going to suddenly reveal the secrets of the universe. Max appeared to be in deep conversation with Zane who was flapping his little arms and babbling like a champ.

'Pababamimimamaimi,' Zane gurgled away and Max gave him a grin.

'Then what happened?

'Pibibamimim.'

'They ran out of chocolate? Oh boy that's not good. Did you get a vanilla one instead?'

'Mimimiambibim.'

'Oh, yes, chocolate-chip one is pretty good too.'

'What are you guys talking about?' Alexis asked, smiling when she saw Zane bat his palms together.

'Milkshakes, Lex! Zane told me about when they went to Roscoe's Sugar Shack.'

'Mamamam! Bibibibi!'

'Yeah, mamas are the best, Zane.' Max pushed the bridge of his glasses up his nose, then wrinkled it. 'Icky, my glasses are covered in smudgy stuff. Jojo, let's go get Alexis a snack and me a napkin.'

'Okay!' Jojo leaned forward to give Petra a little kiss before grabbing Max's hand. 'Let's shall we go!'

'That one will be a writer like her daddy, I bet,' Beckett laughed. 'Alexis, it was a beautiful ceremony, and Adi is a perfect addition to Petra Jasmine.'

'I couldn't believe how quiet she was,' Lindsay added, gave a jerk of her head towards Zane. 'This one doesn't like getting his hands wiped after snack time.'

'Wait until he starts teething.'

'Who was worse on you, Mom, RJ or Jojo?' Alexis asked, watching Petra sleeping happily in Lindsay's arms.

'Oh, Jojo no question. Nothing made her happy. RJ lived on frozen berries and Ben and Jerry's frozen lemonade sherbet and that helped it. Rick told me you were just like your sister,' Beckett smiled. 'So maybe Petra will be like her mumum?'

'Maybe. Oops, look like she knows that word even in her sleep!'

Petra had begun to wiggle in Lindsay's arms, apparently sensing her mother nearby, her wide eyes blinking open. When her little ears tracked Alexis voice, she began to splutter a little, tiny hands waving around. Lindsay passed the baby to her mother, and Alexis held her close, murmuring to her which helped soothe Petra's frayed little nerves.

'There we are, my precious gem, Mumum's here, nothing to stress about. Ooh, I smell that, I think you need a nappie change.'

'You can use the upstairs bathroom for some privacy,' Beckett told her, 'and our room if you need to nurse.'

'No, she had a bottle with Shane a little while ago,' Devon piped up. 'I got to take pictures on Mama's camera phone while Petra had a bottle.'

'Good shob!' Nate held up pursed fingertips and Alexis left for the upstairs bathroom with a laugh as she listened to Nate telling his brother they had to teach Petra how to 'fee' biddies'.

'You've got a whole crowd of people just a little bit bigger than you who love you so much, my sweet sweet angel,' Alexis told her as she peeled back Petra's newborn sized stockings after she'd lain the changing pad and the baby on her parents' bed. 'I don't know who loves you most, us or them.'

'Us, definitely.'

Alexis and Petra both turned their eyes towards the door, the former beaming when she saw Shane there. Her heart did a flip-flop when she saw he'd loosened his tie and popped the top button of his dress shirt. 'Yeah, definitely us. She'd got a messy bottom.'

'Ah, can't have that, can we darling?' Shane moved over to stand with his wife, admire their little girl so brave and beautiful just like her mother. 'Can't have the party guest of honour feeling lousy now, huh? Here.'

Shane dug into the stylish baby bag, pulled out a fresh diaper and Vaseline for Alexis to use once she was finished wiping Petra's little tushy. 'There, that will be more comfy for our princess, won't it?'

'Sure will. Shane?'

'Yes, my sexy Lexy?'

'I love you so much, I...' Alexis gave him a smile. 'I've loved you from the first moment you called me your girlfriend.'

'I've loved you since the first time I told you that. And look where all that love has gotten us.' Shane reached over, put his hand to Petra's tummy and watched her smile. 'Oh, what a little heartbreak you are.'

'A sleepy heartbreaker,' she noted when Petra's smile morphed into a yawn. She finished fixing on the fresh diaper, tugged off the party dress in favour of a powder blue onsie with a snuggled up teddy-bear design then let Shane pick her up, sing her the song that had been used for lulling her into a quiet, restful sleep.

'The sun goes down, the stars come out, and all that counts is here and now. My universe will never be the same, I'm glad you came. I'm glad you came.'

Shane felt Petra yawn again, much more slowly this time and saw she was nearly out for the count so he went over to the spot where they'd set up her little traveling bed and tucked her in. Alexis appeared at his side and they watched their little girl drift into dreamland before returning to the party to honour her welcome into the world.


End file.
